Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith is Senior Director of Livestock-Based Systems, CGIAR, and Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). He has considerable experience in livestock research for development as a CGIAR scientist and at multi- and bilateral donor agencies. He also led the World Bank’s Global Livestock Portfolio and held senior positions at the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada). Born in Guyana, he was raised on a small mixed crop-and-livestock farm. He holds dual nationality with Canada. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign where he completed his PhD in animal science. From 1991 to 2001, he spent 10 years at ILRI and its predecessor, the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), where he led a regional program and a system-wide initiative on livestock. At ILCA and then ILRI, he was the institute’s regional representative for West Africa and he led the development of integrated research promoting smallholder livelihoods through animal agriculture. He also led the System-wide CGIAR Livestock Program.