{"id":15503,"date":"2026-06-20T12:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-to-represent-one-cgiar-at-un-food-systems-summit\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T20:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:33:28","slug":"iita-alumnus-to-represent-one-cgiar-at-un-food-systems-summit","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-to-represent-one-cgiar-at-un-food-systems-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA alumnus to represent One CGIAR at UN Food Systems Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Director General of AfricaRice, and an\u00a0IITA<\/a>\u00a0alumnus, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze has been appointed as\u00a0CGIAR<\/a>\u00a0Special Representative to the\u00a0United Nations Food Systems Summit<\/a>\u00a0(UNFSS), which is tentatively\u00a0scheduled to take place in late 2021<\/a>. At the Summit, he will be bringing the voice of independent agricultural research and broad-ranging partnerships to the global forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"CGIAR
CGIAR Special Representative to the UNFSS, Dr Kanayo Nwanze.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accepting his appointment, Nwanze highlighted the need for representation at the UNFSS. \u201cTo be reengaged with CGIAR, to me, is both a privilege and a unique opportunity to serve the System,\u201d Nwanze said. \u201cCGIAR must be represented in the UNFSS; we cannot just sit on the sidelines. We\u2019ve got to bring to the table our scientific knowledge, our wealth of experience, and our partnerships\u2014we have so much to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\u00a0Africa Food Prize Laureate<\/a>, Nwanze has worked for more than 40 years in the CGIAR System and Rome-based agencies, most recently serving as President of IFAD. He is currently a member of the CGIAR System Management Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nwanze is a fitting representative for CGIAR at the Summit as a voice for independent science and broad partnerships to bring food systems innovations to scale. This was noted by Marco Ferroni, Chair of CGIAR\u2019s System Management Board, in a\u00a0post announcing the appointment<\/a>. \u201cDr Nwanze is an ideal candidate to make the case for science and strong partnerships in agriculture from the global to the local level. We are honored to have him represent CGIAR and our commitment to achieving a future free of poverty and hunger,\u201d Ferroni said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appointment comes as CGIAR prepares to mark its 50th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary in 2021, with celebrations planned for the organization\u2019s transformational innovations for food systems over the past five decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also comes at a time when CGIAR is preparing to unify the governance and operations of its 15 Research Centers under a single system, as One CGIAR, to drive progress on meeting the SDGs by 2030. As a unified system, CGIAR will pursue a revised mission to \u201cend hunger through science to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis,\u201d focusing its efforts on the five key impact areas of nutrition, poverty, gender, climate, and environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Food Systems Summit aims to catalyze and accelerate the transformation of the world\u2019s food systems\u2014how we grow, catch, transport, process, trade, and consume food\u2014to meet the challenges of mitigating and adapting to climate change, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would be very optimistic about the outcome of this Summit,\u201d Nwanze said. \u201cI would hope that we will not come out of it with just another declaration or call for action, but with very clear milestones, timelines, funding envelopes, and commitments for partner engagement for delivery in the next ten years. And I think CGIAR must be central to this.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Director General of AfricaRice, and an IITA alumnus, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze has been appointed as CGIAR Special Representative to the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which is tentatively scheduled to take place in late 2021.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":15504,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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