Speakers’ Bios:
Martien van Nieuwkoop was appointed Director, Agriculture Development at the Gates Foundation, in spring 2024, where he will be leading the foundation’s work to support smallholder farmers, especially women, to become more productive, increase their incomes, strengthen their communities and local economies, and improve their resilience against climate change. Martien joined the foundation after a 30-year distinguished career at the World Bank, where he held positions including, most recently, global director for agriculture and food. Earlier, Martien worked as an economist at the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center in Mexico, and as an economist at the Department of International Cooperation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was stationed in Pakistan for two years. Martien is a Dutch national, born and raised on a family-owned horticulture farm. He has a graduate degree in agricultural economics from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and an MBA from Georgetown University. Over the course of his career, he has worked with governments and partners in 73 countries, particularly in Africa and South Asia, and has lived in India, Pakistan, Madagascar, and Mexico.
Kevin Cleaver is currently a consultant with the Centennial Group where he updates the World Agriculture situation, including the employment potential of agriculture, the impact of climate change on agriculture, and the causes for varying country agriculture performance. Previously, he has supported preparation of the African Development Bank’s new agriculture strategy. He is a former chairperson of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development Thematic Group of World Bank’s 1818 Society. Prior to that, he served as an Associate Vice President at IFAD in which he managed IFAD’s lending and grant operations world-wide; he moved to IFAD from a distinguished career at the World Bank, with his final position being that of Director, Agriculture & Rural Development Department at the World Bank.
Holger Kray is Practice Manager in the office of the Regional Director for Sustainable Development in the World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Vice-Presidency. As Practice Manager for Agriculture and Food and Head of the Africa Agriculture Policy Unit, Holger has extensively worked on food security and food systems resilience matters. Holger holds global expertise in agricultural policy reform, sustainable agriculture, and public sector management. He has extensive working experience across Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. For the World Bank, he served as Chair of the CAADP Development Partner Coordination Group and coordinated the Africa Food Security Leadership dialogue. Before joining the World Bank, he served a global management consulting firm, mainly as senior expert on change management in the financial services industry, and later led a development consulting firm working with international organizations. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Kiel University, Germany.
Diego Arias is currently Practice Manager for Agriculture and Food at the World Bank. He is responsible for the Latin America and Caribbean Region. He manages the World Bank team working on agriculture and food projects and advisory services. Previous to the World Bank, Diego worked at the Inter American Development Bank as Natural Resources Economist and as a commodity trader for coffee, rice and petroleum products. Diego holds a PhD in Agribusiness and Environmental Economics from Polytechnic University of Valencia, an MBA from Sacred Heart University in Luxembourg and a Masters in International Development from Harvard University.
Preeti Ahuja is Chair of the Agriculture, Food & Rural Development Thematic Group at the 1818 Society of World Bank Group alumni. Preeti is a highly seasoned development practitioner with an entrepreneurial mindset. Her career spans over three decades at premier international development agencies such as the World Bank, FAO and Inter-American Development Bank, where she has worked in senior advisory, managerial, technical and/or operational roles. She also brings strong private sector (management & economic consulting, and commercial banking) experience from her early career. Currently, as a senior advisor (consultant) with FAO, Preeti is providing strategic and technical advice to Investment Center management and staff on developing new business streams, unlocking new sources of development finance, strengthening analytical product quality and partnerships, while mentoring and coaching a new leadership cadre. She volunteers with Bankers without Borders/Grameen Foundation, advising on Asia & Pacific Region agri-business operations and sectoral development. Preeti brings a strong record in impactful strategy formulation and policy reforms, and delivery of innovative investment programs and analytics, to drive effective agri-food systems transformation for rural development, food and nutrition security, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. Preeti holds degrees from Delhi University, Boston University and INSEAD, France.
