Babatunde Omilola joined IFPRI in April 2008 as the Africa-wide Coordinator of the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS), a large inter-Center initiative established to support the implementation of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) of the African Union/New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). Prior to joining IFPRI, Dr. Omilola worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where he handled the FAO relationship with the African Union Commission (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He previously worked with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as part of a collaborative programme between NEPAD, African Development Bank (AfDB), IWMI, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), FAO and the World Bank.

He has also worked with the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London; the Projects Coordinating Unit, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abuja, Nigeria; and the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. He has carried out capacity-building assignments with the Ford Foundation International Leadership Institute for Social Justice on environment, health, education, governance, and the intersection between global poverty and international development. He has a very broad outlook with varying degrees of knowledge in a range of development issues such as poverty, food security, agriculture and rural development.

Babatunde holds both MPhil and DPhil degrees from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom where he studied as a Ford Foundation International Fellow; a Seed Corn Research Scholar of the University of Sussex; a Doctoral Research Fellow of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as well as an International Graduate Research Awardee of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. He also received a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, where he served as the President of the University’s Students’ Union Government.

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