The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has announced the appointment of Dr. Beth Dunford as its Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development.
A statement explained that Dunford’s appointment becomes effective from July 1, 2021. It was also mentioned that the national of the United States of America brings extensive experience to her role having held senior level leadership positions in the US government, where she managed large and complex programmes. Dunford has also worked with the private sector, civil society and multilateral and bilateral institutions, as well as with African governments, to deliver agricultural, social and human development impact at scale.
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Before her appointment into the new position, Dunford worked as the Assistant to the Administrator in the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security. She was also the Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
According to the statement, she coordinated a $2.3 billion Feed the Future presidential initiate across 11 US government agencies and forged partnerships within the private sector and civil society targeted at reducing hunger and poverty.
“She also led USAID’s technical and regional expertise focused on improving agriculture-led growth, resilience, nutrition and water security, sanitation and hygiene,” the statement added.
Commenting on the appointment, President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said he was delighted to appoint Dunford as Vice President to lead the Bank’s work on Agriculture, Human and Social Development.
He added that Beth is a strategic and effective leader with deep knowledge and impressive track record in designing and delivering highly impactful large-scale programs that have helped in lifting 27 million people out of poverty in 36 countries.
