CGIAR Fund Council Members

Jonathon Wadsworth leads CGIAR Fund operations. He advises on resource mobilization, facilitates interaction with the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, organizes key meetings, manages relationships with Fund donors, and oversees the day-to-day activities of the Fund Office.

Before joining the CGIAR Fund Office in March 2011, Jonathon was a senior agriculture research advisor in the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the UK representative for the CGIAR. Before becoming an advisor in DFID in 2003, Jonathon spent more than two decades in the field with DFID and other organizations, including the Royal Tropical Institute in Kenya. At the Regional Unit for Technical Assistance, he rolled out the sustainable livelihoods approach across Central America.
Jonathon’s expertise in agriculture ranges from farming and rural extension to research and executive leadership. He has lived and worked in Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Recently, Jonathon designed and implemented a new strategy for research on sustainable agriculture at DFID. And, as chair of the European Initiative on Agricultural Research for Development, he worked towards harmonizing European research for development.
Jonathon has a PhD in agricultural systems and innovation from the University of Reading, an MSc in tropical animal health and production from the University of Edinburgh, and a BSc in agriculture from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.