Segenet Kelemu

Dr. Segenet Kelemu, an Ethiopian scientist, is the fourth Director General, Chief Executive Officer, and the first woman to lead the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe – from November 2013 -December 2023). She is currently a Senior Advisor at the MasterCard Foundation. She is globally claimed for her scientific contributions; institutional building, transformation and leadership; thought leadership, and determined advocacy for Africa and the rest of the developing world. Her career has been inspired by a humble, rural upbringing, and one that has been marked by numerous milestones of success and excellence.

In her career she has progressed from a front-line scientist of molecular plant pathology to an innovative leader pushing forward new approaches to food and nutrition security at the interface of human, plant, animal, and insect interactions. Throughout her career she has championed capacity building for scientific discovery while pushing forward breakthrough work of her own. Her long career as a scientist, leader and advocate has been dedicated to re imagining how agricultural bioscience operates and how it can be best orientated to help farmers.

After more than 25 years in the United States of America and Latin America applying cutting-edge science that saw her garner numerous professional and state honors for an exceptional career as a scientist, Dr Kelemu, returned from the diaspora in 2007 to contribute to Africa’s development. Following her post-doctoral work at Cornell University, USA, Dr. Kelemu joined the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) based in Cali, Colombia, as a Senior Scientist in 1992. She was later appointed Leader of Crop and Agroecosystem Health Management at CIAT until her departure in 2007. In 2007, she became the Director of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub at the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

Prior to becoming the Director General of icipe, Dr Kelemu was the Vice President for Programs at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). As the Vice President for Programs at AGRA, she led the Seed Systems, Soil Health, Market Access, Gender in Agriculture, Farmers Organization Support Systems, Innovative Financing programs, and linked them to other units and programs such as Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Dr Kelemu has received numerous honors, awards and recognitions for her scientific research and institutional leadership. She has also made many addresses at high level forums and served on various boards and advisory panels in major global initiatives and on international juries of key science awards.