Dr. Adesina is a distinguished agricultural development expert with 24 years of global experience in developing and managing successful agricultural programs. He graduated with Bachelors in Agricultural Economics with First Class Honors from the University of Ife, Nigeria (1981) and obtained his PhD in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue University, USA where he won the Outstanding PhD Thesis Award for his research work. He won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 1988, which launched him into an illustrious international career in global agricultural development.

Until his appointment as the Honorable Minister of Agriculture on July 14, 2011, he was the Vice President for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), set up by Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations. He had been an Associate Director (Food Security) at the Rockefeller Foundation New York, where he worked for a decade (1998- 2008) in senior leadership positions, including as Regional Office Director and Representative for Southern Africa. He was Principal Economist and Social Science Research Coordinator for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from 1995 to 1998. He was Principal Economist and Coordinator of the West Africa Rice Economics Task Force at the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) from 1990-1995. He was an Assistant Principal Economist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from 1988-1990. He was the President of the African Association of Agricultural Economists from 2008-2010.

Dr Adesina has received over a dozen global awards for his leadership and work in agriculture. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious YARA Prize in Oslo, Norway for his leadership in pioneering innovative approaches for improving access of farmers in Africa to agricultural inputs. He was awarded the Borlaug CAST Award in 2010 by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, USA, for his global leadership on agricultural science and technology. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Franklin and Marshall College, USA, in 2010, for his global leadership on agriculture and improving the lives and livelihoods of the poor. In 2010, the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon appointed Dr. Adesina as one of the 17 global leaders to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals, along with Bill Gates, Prime Minister of Spain and President of Rwanda, among others.

In his position as the Minister of Agriculture for Nigeria, Dr. Adesina has aggressively implemented bold policy reforms, ended decades of corruption in the fertilizer sector and pursued innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector to add value to crops produced in Nigeria. His passionate commitment is driving a new wave of change in agriculture in Nigeria, moving it away from a development program into a business, to reduce dependency on food imports, generate wealth and create jobs.

Over this period Freddie has acquired world class skills in strategic analysis and planning; program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; as well as, research and documentation. This long involvement in the transformation of marginalized groups culminated in his deep involvement in development policy research, analysis and advocacy. His major area of expertise is participatory development processes and techniques including: Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Processes (PMEP); participatory development methodology including Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Participatory Learning and Action (PLA), and community mobilization – all accompanied by excellent action research, capacity building and facilitation skills. Through various project assignments and trainings, Freddie has acquired excellent conceptualization, organizational development and documentation skills – including the development of results frameworks and operational plans, concept notes and proposals, policy briefs, organizing policy dialogues and consultations, and developing policy advocacy programmes.

Freddie has served as a development worker at community, national, regional and international levels – mainly with World Vision International, a 3-track international development agency. Freddie has trained change agents across Africa in the theory and practice of transformational development and policy advocacy. Freddie has wide experience in both quantitative and qualitative research. He is excellent at networking, coalition building, partnership development and resource mobilization.

Freddie was central in coordinating the civil society-led review of the tripartite (World Bank, Government and Civil Society) Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI) in Africa – that reviewed the impact of Public Expenditure Management, Liberalisation and Privatisation policies on the poor.

Freddie has served as the Regional Coordinator for Policy Advocacy in 9 countries of Eastern and Southern Africa – for the Participatory Ecological Land Use and Management (PELUM) Association – based in Harare, Zimbabwe, responsible for leading and training PELUM member countries in policy advocacy issues pertaining to Food & Seed Security, Fair Trade and Sustainable Land Use. He has served as Regional Advisor for the Southern Africa Kellogg Foundation Public Policy Programme – based at the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) at the University of Zimbabwe. He has served as the Africa Coordinator for the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), based in Bonn, Germany, promoting sustainable agricultural practices across Africa. He has served as Programme Officer for the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), based in Pretoria, South Africa, responsible for coordinating multi-country policy studies and organizing multi-stakeholder policy dialogues for promoting the use of evidence as a basis for planning, investment and policy decisions. He has served as Programme Officer for the CGIAR-based Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System for Southern Africa (ReSAKSS-SA), based in Pretoria, South Africa, responsible for trends analysis and monitoring agricultural sector Performance in Southern Africa to generate evidence-based knowledge products and publications. He has served as Programme Officer for the International Water Management Institute – Southern Africa (IWMI-SA), based in Pretoria, South Africa – responsible for coordinating various projects including integrated water resources monitoring and evaluation and identifying investment options for scaling up irrigation investments in Southern Africa.

Freddie Kalibwani currently the Director of Programs for the International Development Policy Research Centre (IDPRC) – an Africa-wide initiative to ensure best-bet sustainable development policies for Africa. Based on this diversity of skills, Freddie Kalibwani has undertaken many capacity building and consultancy assignments and presented many papers.

Freddie is well traveled and recognized internationally as an advocate for pro-poor participatory development, shared prosperity, and environmental protection. He aspires for equity and improved quality of life for the poor. Freddie Kalibwani has graduate training in Biochemistry and postgraduate training in International Development.

A track record of environmental policy research and analysis, advocacy engagements at national, regional and international levels promoting sustainable natural resource management.

Successful program/project implementation, donor contract management, partnership building and networking.

Experience in strategic planning, managing full project lifecycle from conceptualization to proposal development, project implementation, financial management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

Strong leader with demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals at all levels and in all functional areas.

Graduate training in natural sciences, post graduate training in environmental science and Development policy.