Ruben Echeverría
Director General, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Dr. Echeverría was appointed Director General of CIAT in Colombia in 2009. He has worked on agricultural and rural development issues for 30 years. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Echeverría worked for the Uruguayan Land Reform Institute, heading its extension service. He has worked on agricultural research policy issues and strengthening national research capacities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, based at the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in the Netherlands. In 1992, he joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. where he worked in the preparation of several agricultural and rural development projects in Latin America Since 2007 he is the President of the International Board of the Center for Rural Development in Latin America (RIMISP).