Gabriel Rugalema

Gabriel Rugalema (Tanzania) joined WorldVeg Eastern and Southern Africa as Regional Director in October 2019. Dr. Rugalema brings more than 30 years of experience in leadership and management of agriculture and food security programs at country, regional and global levels to the post.

Prior to joining the World Vegetable Center, Dr. Rugalema was Representative/Country Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Kenya, where he managed a large and diverse field program portfolio of more than USD 90 million for both the Kenya country program as well as regional programs covering the broader East African region. During his service as FAO Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator (ad interim) in Sierra Leone he led national and international institutions in a successful response to an Ebola outbreak in 2015-2016. Dr. Rugalema served in various senior technical capacities at FAO Headquarters in Rome. He has also worked for other UN agencies in various capacities.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture (Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania); a masters in Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Agriculture (Agricultural University of Norway, Aas, Norway); PhD in Development Studies (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands); and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands).