Our team

‒ Head of the IUCN Food and Agricultural Systems Team ‒

Pascale Bonzom leads the development and delivery of a coherent and impactful programme of work on sustainable food and agricultural systems that generates knowledge, tools and approaches across the sector, from engagement with farmers through to global policy, that are integrated into IUCN programme delivery, and, by extension, proactively drive sectoral transformational processes.

She is a sustainable development practitioner with 20 years of experience leading projects and programmes at UNDP across 4 regions, at global, regional and country level. In the last decade she specialized in sustainable food and agricultural commodities systems development. Before UNDP, Pascale worked for 5 years as a business consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, in London and New York. She has an engineering degree in Chemistry from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse, and a PhD in Chemistry from the School of Pharmacy, University College London. 

‒ Programme Officer (Dialogue and Policy) ‒ 

Silvia Cardellino coordinates dialogue processes and policy influencing efforts to enhance coherent public policy and regulatory frameworks that support the transition to sustainable agriculture. This includes:  organizing inclusive multistakeholder dialogues bridging the agriculture and conservation sectors to build consensus on sustainability issues and action plans;  engaging and collaborating with IUCN Members;  and engaging in international policy fora to inform and influence policymaking.  Silvia also contributes to liaising and coordinating the work across national, regional, and global offices.  Additionally, Silvia oversees the team's communication strategy development and implementation. 

Before joining IUCN, Silvia spent seven years working as a project and portfolio manager, science communicator, and agricultural advisor in both the public and private sectors. She holds a Master’s degree in Plant Biotechnology from the University of Turin, Italy. 

‒ Young Professional (Events, Communication and Programme implementation support) ‒ 

 Camille Darbo plays a key supporting role in project coordination, administration, and communication. She assists senior programme staff with managing project tasks, facilitating stakeholder communication, and providing logistical and administrative support for meetings, workshops, and events. Her responsibilities include contributing to project implementation by reviewing deliverables, preparing presentations, supporting monitoring and evaluation activities, and assisting with procurement and partnership agreements. She is in charge of communications, particularly the Food and Agricultural Systems newsletter and LinkedIn page. Additionally, she organises events and policy engagement activities, ensuring smooth coordination and follow-up. She supports IUCN’s participation in policy fora and member engagement, handling logistical tasks such as travel arrangements and technical support for events.

Before joining IUCN, Camille worked with the CITES Secretariat, the International Telecommunication Union and various NGOs on projects related to environmental education, green infrastructures, desertification, and women's empowerment. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development, Environment, and Sustainability from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID), as well as a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from King’s College London.   

‒ Young Professional (Forest and Farm Facility) ‒

Clara Gentili supports the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) programme, contributing to private sector and forest and farm producer organizations engagement to strengthen climate-resilient landscapes and improved livelihoods. Her work includes providing technical and administrative support, collaborating with regional and global Forest and Farm Producer Organizations, and assisting in project implementation and communication strategies. She also coordinates feedback from regional and global organizations and facilitates communication among farmers, representatives, and other members, including at key international policy dialogues.

Before joining IUCN, Clara gained experience in project management and forestry, working with international organizations to implement nature-based solutions for more sustainable and resilient food systems and urban environments. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Studies with a specialization in sustainable development and societies, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations with a minor in Linguistics.

‒ Programme Officer (Knowledge and Learning) ‒

Simon Julien coordinates the development of knowledge products, metrics, tools and frameworks relating to sustainable agriculture, and designs accompanying capacity-building activities. This includes: working with other teams to adapt IUCN’s existing metrics, frameworks and tools – such as the Global Standard to Nature-based Solutions, the Red List of Species, the Global Ecosystem Typology, the Contribution for Nature Platform, etc. – to the specificities of agriculture, as well as developing entirely new ones – such as the Land Health Monitoring Framework – to focus specifically on agricultural landscapes; supporting the production of reports covering agricultural topics from different angles, and reviewing them; designing workshops and courses that reconcile agricultural and biodiversity protection priorities.

Before joining IUCN, he worked in various NGOs, in academia and as a consultant. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences with a specialization in Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Society from the University of Geneva, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences with a minor in Historical and Social Sciences from the University of Lausanne. 

‒  Senior Programme Coordinator, Agriculture Supply Chains ‒ 

Elena Mendoza Barajas joined IUCN 2 years ago. She is responsible for building and delivering a programme of work of 2 of IUCNs business lines on Agriculture: (1) engagement and action with farmer organisations and Indigenous Peoples groups (FFPOs), and (2) transforming multinational supply chain at company level and in productive landscapes. 

‒ Programme Officer (Agriculture NbS and Policy Advocacy) ‒

Orsolya Nyárai contributes to activities both connected to knowledge products and policy advocacy with the aim to advance the uptake of sustainable farming practices, the integration of Nature-based Solutions in agriculture and to support the implementation of various projects in the team`s portfolio. She provides support to IUCN’s engagement and participation in policy fora and dialogue processes and provides technical advice and inputs to the development of publications, tools and knowledge products with respect to agriculture NbS and soils.

Before joining the FAS team of IUCN, Orsi worked for five years as agricultural policy officer at a regional environmental NGO in Hungary and for 6 months, she supported IUCN’s NbS Management Hub. She holds an MSc degree in Environment Management and Policy from Lund University (Sweden) and MA degrees in English and Communications from Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Hungary). 

‒ Head, Science and Strategy Group, IUCN Asia Regional Office ‒

Raquibul Amin leads the Science and Strategy Group at the IUCN Asia Regional Office, where he oversees regional programme strategy and implementation. With over 20 years of experience across Asia, his expertise includes natural resource management, Nature-based Solutions, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. He has worked extensively with governments, NGOs, academia, and civil society in countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Seychelles, Maldives, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Mr. Amin holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and is a fellow in environmental strategic leadership from Harvard Business School. 

‒ Senior Advisor to ORMACC Regional Direction ‒

With an academic background in Agricultural Development, she has over 40 years of experience in agricultural development, natural resource management and rural development across Latin America, Africa, and globally. She has worked with international research and development organizations on the design, implementation, and evaluation of projects and programmes. Her expertise spans fieldwork with communities, institutional management, and engagement with cooperation agencies.

Since 2016 at IUCN, she provides technical and methodological support to project teams on restoration, agricultural systems, forest and watershed management in particular. She supports convening and advocacy efforts with regional decision-makers and leads fundraising activities. She also assists the ORMACC Regional Director on strategic matters and in managing IUCN's knowledge in the region. Additionally, she serves as the focal point for the ORMACC–South Hub, ensuring joint thematic actions. She has authored or co-authored over 40 publications farming systems, economic evaluation of ecosystems and on rural development.

‒ Head, Lower Mekong Subregion, Vietnam Office ‒

Based in Hanoi, Jake Brunner is Head of IUCN’s Lower Mekong Sub-region covering Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Myanmar. Before joining IUCN in 2008, he spent eight years running Conservation International’s Indo-Burma Program based in Washington, DC and Phnom Penh. Previously, he spent eight years at World Resources Institute, an environmental policy research centre in Washington, DC. He holds a BA in Geography from Oxford University and a MS in Remote Sensing/GIS from London University.

‒ Food Systems Officer, Natural Resources, IUCN European Regional Office ‒

Blandine supports the delivery of IUCN’s food systems work as part of the Natural Resources team. Her work aims to promote sustainable and resilient food systems in the future, focusing on EU policies and projects related to the agriculture, biodiversity, and climate nexus.  

Prior to joining the IUCN office in Brussels, she worked with the European Coordination Via Campesina and with Euromontana, where she coordinated policy and advocacy activities with mountain stakeholders across the network.

Blandine holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and European Affairs from Sciences Po Strasbourg and has a long-standing interest in agricultural policy.

‒ Senior Officer – Natural Resources ‒

As the Senior Officer for Natural Resources at IUCN Brussels’ office, Elodie engages with European stakeholders to gather and share best practices towards the safeguard of nature and biodiversity among agriculture, food security, water and soil health domains. Supported by her team, she builds bridges between scientific, EU funded projects results and agri-environmental policies, underlying the link between the preservation and restoration of ecosystem services with resilience of food systems.

She represents IUCN position and voice in various EU platforms, Expert Groups and fora, such as the Advisory Group on Sustainability of Food Systems of the European Commission (AGSFS) or conversations at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture. Elodie can capitalize on previous years of experience in European policy and EU funded project implementation in Brussels within the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO- members of IUCN). She holds a MSc in International Sustainability Management and holds a deep interest in economics for nature and biodiversity.

‒ Programme Manager, India Programme Coordination ‒

Archana Chatterjee is leading as the Programme Manager at IUCN India office. She has led on country and regional level initiatives, such as, Ecosystems for Life: A Bangladesh-India Initiative, leading the India component, Mangroves for Future, Sustainable Agriscapes, Himalaya for Future, Coping with Uncertainties in Himalaya, among others.  

Archana has more than twenty-eight years of experience with international, non-governmental and UN organisations. Before joining IUCN, she was working with the UNESCO New Delhi Office as National Project Coordinator, World Heritage Biodiversity Programme, India operational in Uttarakhand, Assam and West Bengal. She has also worked as Head, Regional Programme on Himalayan High Altitude Wetlands and Rivers, WWF-India.  At WWF-India, she also led the development and implementation of the ‘Thirsty Crops Initiative’ focussing on best management practices for water use in Sugarcane and Cotton crops.  

Archana holds a M.Phil and Masters in Environmental Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Archana’s primary areas of expertise include wetland management, environmental flows and transboundary water management and sustainable agriculture-biodiversity interface. Lastly, she has also been a member of Ramsar Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel for two terms.

‒ Coordinador Regional de Programa, South America ‒

Consuelo Espinoza Proaño is an environmental economist with more than 25 years of experience in project management in Latin America and globally, with expertise on forest, water, climate change, biodiversity, conservation and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, and conservation with human rights approach. She currently works at the IUCN Regional Office in South America as Regional Program Coordinator. She built her career working for environmental, human rights and sustainable development organizations and her most significant positions and projects include the Latin America and Caribbean Directorate of the global Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), implemented by Fundación Futuro Latinoamericana in Ecuador; Regional Coordinator of the All Eyes on the Amazon initiative, led by HIVOS and Greenpeace; and Coordinator of the UN REDD+ Joint National Program in Ecuador.

Her first stint at IUCN was is 2002, where she was involved with the Forests Global Program for almost a decade. With two master’s degree, one in Environment and Natural Resource Economics and recently on Climate Change Law and Economics, Consuelo also facilitates participatory processes for building agreements on globally and nationally accepted multi-stakeholder platforms on issues related to conservation, restauration, FPIC and others. She also facilitates knowledge management processes at the regional and national level.

‒ Programme Coordination Officer, Bureau Régional Afrique Occidentale et Centrale (PACO), Point focal systèmes agricoles et alimentaires ‒

Germain Goungounga designs, coordinates and implements programmes and projects promoting the transition to sustainable agriculture and the development of resilient food systems in West and Central Africa. He leads initiatives that are integrated with IUCN programmes, generating knowledge and innovative tools, from supporting farmers to developing international public policies.

An economist, statistician and environmentalist, Germain has over 15 years' experience in managing agricultural and environmental projects, including 7 years with IUCN. He has coordinated major projects on land restoration, climate resilience and the integration of nature-based solutions. He holds a PhD in Geography with a major in Environment and Spatial Planning, as well as several degrees in environment, econometrics and economics. He is committed to accelerating the transition to sustainable and resilient agriculture in the face of regional challenges.

‒ Programme Manager, Water and Climate Change, West Asia ‒

Ali Hayajneh has worked for more than 13 years on the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Jordan as hydrology-water Engineer, Head of water master plan division and the director of water policies and strategic planning directorate. During his work in the Ministry, he was the team leader for updating the Jordanian national water strategy 2016-2025 and its related policies. In addition to that he was the national focal point for the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in particular goal number 6 with all UN related agencies. In this regard he was responsible for all needed processes to measure and identified the national baseline for all targets related to water and sanitation goal.

Now, he is the water and climate change program manager on the IUCN ROWA, implementing several projects at national and regional levels. These projects are related to water governance, applying innovative techniques for water saving and water demand management, water energy and food security nexus and others.

– Programme Manager –

 

Anthony Mhagama leads efforts in advancing sustainable agricultural development, organisational capacity building, market systems growth, and nature-based solutions across Tanzania. Since early 2022, he has been serving as the Sustainable Agriculture Lead and Programme Manager at IUCN Tanzania, where he plays a pivotal role in designing and implementing regenerative agriculture initiatives that bolster landscape level biodiversity conservation and strengthen local economies.

His key areas of expertise include:

• Regenerative Agriculture & Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Leading initiatives that integrate soil health, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience to support sustainable farming and landscape management in Tanzania.
• Biodiversity Conservation: Promoting nature-positive agricultural practices that conserve wildlife habitats, preserve pollinators, and reduce agrochemical impacts.
• Local Economic Development: Ensuring that smallholder farmers and rural communities benefit from inclusive value chains, skills-building, and income-generating opportunities.

Prior to joining IUCN, Anthony worked for 5 years with the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Tanzania honing expertise in development cooperation and market systems development to promote private sector engagement and sustainable food supply chains in the region. He holds Master of Business Administration in Agribusiness.

‒ Programme Coordinator, Livelihoods and Climate Change, Guatemala Office ‒

Adolfo Ottoniel Monterroso Rivas is a Guatemalan professional, whose professional interest lies in nature conservation and in environmental and natural resource economics. He currently works at IUCN, Guatemala Office (ORMACC), coordinating the "Resilient Highlands" Project, which is co-financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the Government of Guatemala.

Ottoniel is interested in studying the interactions between the economy and the natural environment, which he approaches through the analysis of socio-ecological systems. He is a practitioner of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation.

Before coming to IUCN, he was Dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, as well as Director and researcher of the Research Institute on Natural Environment and Society, both instances of the University Rafael Landívar, Guatemala. He has worked in the governmental sector (Secretariat of Planning and in the Ministry of Agriculture, Guatemala), as well as in different agencies for international cooperation.

Ottoniel is an Agricultural Engineer graduated from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (Mexico); M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of London (UK); and Ph.D. in Tropical Agroforestry, with an emphasis on environmental economics, from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Teaching Center (CATIE, Costa Rica).

 ‒ Nature Conservation and Food System Programme Manager,  IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation ‒

Mercedes Muños Cañas is a biologist and environmental scientist with over 20 years of experience in creating, developing, and monitoring projects related to international cooperation and environmental protection at both national and international levels. Since 2018, she is part of the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, currently coordinating IUCN's work on Food and Agricultural Systems in the Mediterranean region.

‒ Agriculture Officer, IUCN European Regional Office ‒

Facundo Odriozola supports the delivery of IUCN’s work on sustainable agriculture within the European policy context, contributing to the development and implementation of agri-environmental strategies that foster biodiversity and soil health. He supports the agriculture-related policy components of EU-funded projects, including SOILGUARD and SAFEGUARD, and engages with stakeholders across the agricultural and environmental sectors to promote more resilient food systems.

He is a legal and policy professional with expertise in environmental law, sustainable agriculture, and natural resource governance. Prior to his current role, Facundo worked at the IUCN Environmental Law Centre in Bonn, where he managed projects on environmental legislation, legal capacity building, and governance frameworks to support biodiversity conservation.

Facundo represents IUCN Europe in a range of external policy forums and contributes to technical reporting and policy outreach. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Environmental Law.

‒ ESARO Regional Programme Officer, Sustainable Agriculture ‒

Jules Rutebuka (PhD) is the Regional Programme Officer for Sustainable Agriculture at IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESARO), leading regional initiatives on sustainable food and agriculture systems. He provides technical support for programme and project implementation, as well as strategy development on sustainable agriculture.

With over 16 years of experience, he has built a strong expertise in agri-environmental fields such as integrated soil fertility management, sustainable landscape management, soil erosion control, and agroecology. He previously held various technical and leadership roles at the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), including Senior Research Fellow and Land Husbandry Specialist, among others.

Before joining IUCN, he led a major government initiative to establish the Rwanda Soil Information Service (RwaSIS) at RAB, designed to address soil degradation affecting low agricultural productivity. He holds a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from Ghent University (Belgium), with a specialization in Land and Water Management.

‒ Burkina Faso Country Head ‒

Jacques Somda leads the development and management of coherent and impactful IUCN programme in Burkina Faso, with extension to west African countries that share similar features. For nearly two decades, he has contributed to the development and implementation of approaches and tools for sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture in west Africa. He is a practitioner of science-based sustainable development and nature conservation and is committed to creating a fertile bridge between agriculture and conservation stakeholders.

With more than 20 years of experience at the national and international level, he has led projects integrating agronomic, economic, political and behavioural sciences. Before joining IUCN, he worked for ten years in agricultural research centres in Burkina Faso and at the International Trypanotolerance Centre in The Gambia. In addition to research and development, he also taught economics and biodiversity conservation policy at Nazi Boni University in Burkina Faso.

He holds an engineering degree in agronomy from the Rural Development Institute of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and a doctoral degree in rural economics from the University of Abidjan in Ivory Coast.

‒ Nature-based Solutions Project Officer, Central Asia ‒ 

Liubov Timofeeva serves as a Nature-based Solutions Project Officer at the Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which she joined in 2023. Her primary focus is on NbS projects for landscape restoration and sustainable land management.

Liubov began her professional career at an international law firm in 2007, supporting M&A transactions and advising clients on corporate and environmental issues. In 2009, she joined a national development institution in Russia, where she focused on green investments and promoted legislative initiatives for sustainable development and green finance. After nine years in sustainable investments, Liubov transitioned to area-based conservation, serving as the director of the "Volcanoes of Kamchatka" nature parks network, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Liubov holds an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge (2020) and a Master’s in Public Law from Moscow State University (2008). She also earned a professional diploma in Financial Analysis and Management from the Higher School of Economics, National Research University.