Dr. Namanga Ngongi, former deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Under Secretary General and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in DR Congo and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the country, was called out of retirement from a lifetime devoted to agricultural development to serve as the first President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from 2007 to 2012. Dr Ngongi has served on many international and regional bodies concerned with nutrition and was among others, Chair of the UN Sub-Committee on Nutrition (SCN); founding chairperson of the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) board of trustees; chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), member of the CGIAR System Management Board. Dr. Ngongi’s decades, long service to his country, Cameroon, the UN, and AGRA earned him the African Green Revolution Forum Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Dr Namanga Ngongi is Chair of the Board of AfriCAN and is an active farmer in Cameroon, his home country. Dr. Ngongi holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in agronomy from Cornell University.