Board

Dr. Peter VanderZaag (Canada) obtained his PhD in Tropical Agronomy and Soil Science from the University of Hawaii. He has 20 years of experience as a large-scale conventional and organic potato farmer in Ontario, Canada. Peter has a small, on-farm research program that develops varieties of potato with tolerance to scab and insects and with low reducing sugars after long-term storage. He is studying how to grow Asian sweetpotatoes in the temperate climate of Ontario.

Previously, Peter was employed by CIP in Central Africa (Rwanda) and served as Regional Director in South East Asia (the Philippines). Since then, Peter has consulted with numerous organizations and has been particularly active with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) in providing the necessary expertise in North Korea, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Bangladesh.

Peter is honored to share the challenges and opportunities that CIP faces today. During a time of global food insecurity, CIP is well positioned to reduce poverty and achieve food security because of its many partnerships around the world. Since becoming Board Chair in 2009, Peter has been active in the CGIAR reform process, including development of the Consortium Board and its functions.

Peter has published over 50 articles on potato research in refereed journals, most recently “Towards Sustainable Potato Production: Experience with Alternative Methods of Pest and Disease Control on a Commercial Potato Farm” (American Journal of Potato Research. 2010.  87: 428-433).

Dr. Pamela Anderson (USA) has been Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP) since May 2005. CIP is one of fifteen international agricultural research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Prior to becoming Director General, she served as the Deputy Director General of Research at CIP (2002-2005) and as Senior Entomologist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in Cali, Colombia (1997-2002). She received a MSc in Entomology from the University of Illinois, an MSc in Human Ecology from Harvard University, and a DSc in Population Sciences/Vector Entomology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

A leading expert on emerging plant diseases, Dr. Anderson has also conducted research in agricultural entomology and plant virus epidemiology related to food security and income generation for resource-poor populations. Dr. Anderson has worked in Latin America for 30 years and spent two decades working within national agricultural research systems before joining the CGIAR.

Dr. S. Ayyappan (India) is Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) of the Ministry of Agriculture of India. He is also Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), where he worked previously as Deputy Director General of Fisheries.

From 2006-2008, Dr. Ayyappan served in the Ministry of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Fisheries as Founder-Chief Executive of the National Fisheries Development Board, where he established the Board’s infrastructure and programs, including the Expert Group on Deep Sea Fisheries.

He has chaired numerous committees, working groups, and task forces in India’s Ministry of Agriculture, including the Expert Committee for Development of Freshwater Aquaculture (2000-2001), the Working Group to formulate the Model Bill for Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture (2004-2004), and the Task Force on Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology (2006-2009).

Dr. Ayyappan holds a PhD from Bangalore University and a master’s degree in Fish Production and Management from the College of Fisheries in Mangalore.

Dr. Ayyappan has published extensively in areas of fisheries, limnology, and aquatic microbiology.

Program Committee Chair

Prof. Simon G. Best, OBE, FRSE (UK) is CEO of Aquapharm Ltd, a marine biotechnology company, and Chairman of the University of Edinburgh’s BioQuarter initiative.

Prof. Best is a serial entrepreneur who built three substantial ventures as founding CEO between 1991 and 2005: Zeneca Plant Science, Roslin BioMed, and Ardana. Between 2005 and 2010 he built a portfolio of chair, board, and advisory roles with biotech companies, investors, and public sector bodies in Europe, the USA, and India. He was the Chairman of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) from 2006-2007 and Vice-Chairman of BIO in the USA from 1994-96.

In 2001, Prof. Best joined the Board of ICRISAT and served as Chair from 2006 to 2008. ICRISAT was rated as “outstanding” by the World Bank in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, Prof. Best was appointed to the CIP Board.

Prof. Best received his Bachelor of Music from the University of York in 1977 and his MBA from London Business School in 1985. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary PhD from the University of York. In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). In June 2008, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was made an Honorary Professor of Medicine by the University of Edinburgh.

Audit/Risk Oversight Committee Chair

Ms. Phyllis Wanjiku Kibui (Kenya/USA) is currently working for Cities Alliance, a multi-donor coalition of cities and their development partners with a mandate for making unprecedented improvements in the living conditions of the urban poor.

Before joining Cities Alliance, she worked for the World Bank’s Internal Audit Department, carrying out audits of community-driven development projects financed by the Bank. Ms. Kibui was the Director of Relationship Management for Women’s World Banking (WWB) for seven years. She served as WWB’s Africa Regional Manager from 1993 to 2002, where she provided technical support and coordinated delivery of WWB products and services to affiliates in the region. She worked as Group Chief Accountant of the Serena Group of Hotels in East Africa. For over two years, Ms. Kibui was Finance and Administration Manager of the Kenya Rural Enterprise Program (K-REP), a leading microfinance institution in Kenya, and she served as head of the Finance Committee at Kenya Women Finance Trust, a WWB affiliate. From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Kibui served on the Board of Oikocredit, a leading development institution in the Netherlands, and Board President for the last three years.

Ms. Kibui has a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a chartered accountant in the UK.

Eng. César Paredes Piana (Peru) has an Engineer degree in Agriculture from the College of Agriculture of the Catholic University of Perú. He is presently the Head of the Peruvian National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA). Previously, Eng. Paredes served as the Regional Manager for Hortus S.A.C., which markets agricultural products in Peru, and as Consultant/Advisor for ACM Peru S.A.C., an agribusiness consulting and management firm. Having served in various capacities at Peru’s Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of the Presidency, Eng. Paredes has extensive experience in the governmental and agricultural sectors of Peru.

Dr. José Valle-Riestra (Peru) has an Engineer degree in Agriculture from the Universidad Nacional Agraria de La Molina, and Master and Doctorate degrees in Nutrition from Cornell University. He has been a Full Professor at the National Agrarian University.

Dr. Valle-Riestra has international experience through his positions as Associate Director of Animal Science in the International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC), Director of International Cooperation at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and Deputy Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP). When Dr. Valle-Riestra retired from CIP in June 2000, the Board of Trustees conferred to him the title of Deputy Director General Emeritus.

Dr. Valle-Riestra is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peruvian Foundation for the Conservation of Nature (ProNaturaleza,) a member of the Board of the Institute of Nutritional Investigation (IIN), and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Andean Agriculture of the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia (ALTAGRO) project.

Board Vice-Chair; Governance and Nominations Committee Chair

Dr. Stella Williams (Nigeria) is presently Professor of Agricultural Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife) in Nigeria. She obtained a BSc in Zoology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Fourah Bay College (now University of Sierra Leone) in West Africa. She obtained a Master’s in Ecology/Marine Biology from University of Connecticut and a PhD in Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture/Agricultural Economics from Auburn University in the USA.

Dr. Williams has served on various international boards, including Gender, Science, and Technology (GASAT); Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET); and the WorldFish Center. More recently, she has served on the Steering Committee of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD). She served for many years as an Expert for the European Union, reviewing INCO-DEV proposals in Brussels. She served as Coordinator of NGOs in Nigeria for Food and Nutrition and for Youths in Agricultural Development. She is an advocate for education of girls and educational empowerment for women in agriculture.

Dr. Zhang Taolin (China) is currently Vice Minister of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China. Dr. Zhang obtained his PhD in Agronomy at Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Giessen, Germany, where he studied soil science and agroecology. As an expert on soil degradation and sustainability, he has become renowned for his research on red soil.

In the early 1990s, he became one of the youngest organizers of national agricultural scientific projects. Since then, he has authored 120 theses; 3 monographs; and 5 compilations of papers on soil quality, degradation of red soil, assessment of soil fertility in southern China, and agricultural sustainability. During the same period, Dr. Zhang presided over a number of national and international research projects. Due to his achievements in academia, Dr. Zhang began serving in the mid-1990s as Deputy Director and then Director of the Institute of Soil Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He then took the position of the Vice Mayor of Nanjing Municipality, Jiangsu Province, and then Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province.