Dr. Namanga Ngongi
Dr. Namanga Ngongi, a Cameroonian national, holds a PhD in Agronomy from Cornell University and has extensive experience in national and international affairs. He was Deputy Head of Projects in the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture and later represented Cameroon at the United Nations food agencies in Rome. Dr. Ngongi was a member of the Executive Board of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Vice Chair of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on World Food Security, and Vice Chair of the FAO Programme Committee. He joined the World Food Programme in 1984 and served as Deputy Executive Director from 1994-2001.
Dr. Ngongi was appointed USG and UN Special Representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001 and led the MONUC peacekeeping mission until the formation of a transitional government in 2003. He served as president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from 2007 to 2012, where he oversaw the establishment of innovative seed systems, policy support, and financing schemes in many African countries. He chairs the boards the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, the International Center for Evaluation and Development (ICED) and the Seed Systems Group (SSG). Dr. Ngongi was a member of the Board of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from 2013 to 2020 and served as Chair from 2018-2020.
Dr. Ngongi has been interested in nutrition issues since he was a representative to the UN food agencies in Rome. He served for two years as Chair of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (2000-2002). Dr. Ngongi is a member of the System Management Board of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and member of the boards of several Civil Society Groups in Cameroon focusing on Agriculture and Nutrition.
