The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is pleased to welcome four distinguished leaders to its Board of Trustees: José Campos (Costa Rica), Eleni Gabre-Madhin (Ethiopia), Simi Kamal (Pakistan), and Purvi Mehta (India).
IFPRI’s Board of Trustees currently consists of 10 distinguished professionals who serve as the Institute’s governing body and help guide its mission to work with partners to provide research-based policy solutions to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods, contribute to empowerment for all, and promote sustainable, climate-resilient food systems.
As IFPRI moves forward with its new strategy and confronts growing challenges, the new Trustees bring stronger representation across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, along with expanded expertise in areas such as water, climate, the private sector, and partnerships. Their perspectives will help the Board position IFPRI for even greater impact.
“We are delighted to welcome these outstanding leaders to the Board of Trustees,” said Johan Swinnen, IFPRI Director General. “Their expertise and perspectives will help IFPRI continue to deliver rigorous research and policy solutions that address today’s most pressing food system challenges.”
New Trustees
José J. Campos (Costa Rica) is Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), where he advances regenerative, nature-positive agriculture and financeable supply chain solutions through multistakeholder collaboration. He brings more than 40 years of leadership experience in sustainable agriculture, forestry, and landscape management, including as Director General of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Latin America’s first graduate school in agricultural sciences, and has chaired the Board of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
Eleni Gabre-Madhin (Ethiopia) is a globally recognized thought leader and serial entrepreneur, best known as the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), which has transformed the livelihoods of more than 15 million smallholder farmers. She currently serves on the faculty of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Previously, she acted as Chief Innovation Officer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and, earlier in her career, a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI.
Simi Kamal (Pakistan) is a geographer and development leader with expertise spanning water, climate change, agriculture, food security, and poverty alleviation. As the founder of the Hisaar Foundation, she has helped build and lead numerous institutions and initiatives in Pakistan and internationally. She chaired the Board of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) from 2018 to 2025 and served on Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Task Force on Food Security (2019–2022).
Purvi Mehta (India) is an internationally recognized leader in agriculture, food systems, and climate resilience, with nearly three decades of experience across Africa, Asia, and North America. She spent nearly 11 years on the agriculture leadership team at the Gates Foundation and has worked with CGIAR Centers, including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). She serves on several public, private, and academic boards and is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University.
Read more about the Board of Trustees and the biographies of all Trustees on the Board of Trustees page.
About IFPRI: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI’s strategic research aims to identify and analyze alternative international and country-led strategies and policies for meeting food and nutrition needs in low- and middle-income countries, with particular emphasis on poor and vulnerable groups in those countries, inclusive development, and sustainability. It is a research center of CGIAR; a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development. http://www.ifpri.org
Media inquiries: Evgeniya Anisimova, e.anisimova@cgiar.org