Jean D'Amour Nkundimana
Agriculture And Food Systems Expert
Plot 7, Area 40, Lilongwe
Summary
An Agriculture Expert with more than 15 years of experience in Agri food systems across different organizations and environments. Experienced in agriculture value chain development, natural resources management and climate change adaptation. Skilled in policy advisory, project management and strategy development . Achieved significant improvements in food systems supporting several countries in Africa through different innovative approaches to agriculture commercialization with smallholder farmers at the center.
Overview
2026
2026
years of professional experience
8
8
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Languages
Work History
Program Manager, Agriculture Commercialization
United Nations Development Programme - UNDP
Lilongwe, Lilongwe
03.2025 - Current
- Project Manager for the UCHI Agricultural Commercialization Project, working to commercialize 5 value chains in Malawi - Soya, Rice, Banana, Aquaculture and Apiculture, through technical support, matching grants and coaching to 200 farmer organizations and 100 Small and Medium Enterprises. 50% of the supported entities have been linked to off-take opportunities and finance.
- Leading a team of 20 senior national and international experts involved in value chain commercialization, including agriculture and value chain experts, grants managers, business specialists and monitoring & evaluation experts
- Focal point for UNDP Malawi on Agriculture and Food Systems, representing the organization in strategic meetings and fora where Agri food systems decisions are taken
- A member of the Donor Committee in Agriculture and Food Security (DCAFS) in Malawi, where the development partners meet and discuss and/or review policies in Agriculture and food security, including promising the relevant guidance and advisory to the government of Malawi.
Head, Food Systems and Resilience
United Nations World Food Programme
5 2022 - 02.2025
- As portfolio manager for smallholder agricultural market support, supply chain efficiency and natural resources management, grew the portfolio from 2 projects to 10 over a period of 2 years with funding increasing from USD 1million to USD 10million per year.
- Increased the outreach from 50,000 households to 300,000+ households over a period of 2.5 years, being supported on agriculture value chain commercialization and natural resources management.
- Grew the team from 5 national staff to 20+ national and international professionals dealing with agriculture, supply chains and climate resilience interventions.
- Secured 10+ technical agreements and MoUs with strategic partners locally and globally.
- Coordinating the Farm to Market Alliance; a consortium of national and international public and private institutions working to improve smallholders' access to markets and income. 130,000+ farmers reached through 500+ farmer service centers in 2 years. The alliance includes 5 input companies, 10 institutional buyers, 6 financial institutions, 3 UN agencies, 2 research institutions, 3 NGOs and 2 academic institutions.
- Coordinating a Mastercard Foundation project supporting 100,000+ youth on several job creation opportunities in agri value chains. In only 1 year,80000+ of these have been capacitated in entrepreneurship, financial literacy & savings while 20,000+ were linked to profitable markets.
- Over a period of 2.5 years, have attracted more donors towards resilience and value chain strengthening interventions. The number has grown from 2 donors in 2022 to 8 in 2025 (Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, KOICA, Mastercard Foundation, New Zealand, Brazil) with funding commitment growing from only USD 5million to USD 50million for 5 years.
- Acted as focal point for WFP in the Agriculture sector working group, contributing to policy decisions and advisory to the government on agriculture related issues.
Food Systems Specialist
United Nations World Food Programme
Kinshasa, DRC
08.2021 - 04.2022
- Coordinated agriculture value chain initiatives in 5 provinces, supporting over 100,000+ smallholder farmers who managed to sell 10,000MT of maize and beans on competitive prices in one season.
- Coordinated 10+ food systems dialogues with other relevant WFP functions external partners including government, UN Rome Based Agencies and Key financial institutions. This contributed to increased efficiency and significant reduction of duplication and double-counting.
- Managed the writing of 5+ strategic concept notes and proposals to attract donors and partners' attention towards WFP DRC work in agriculture and supply chains which mobilized USD 120million.
- Acted as the focal point of WFP and co-chair of the DRC Agriculture Working Group named GIBADER " Groupe Inter-Bailleurs pour l'Agriculture et le Developpement Rural". Strengthened coordination among donors in Agriculture (WFP, FAO, IFAD, UNDP, European Union, USAID, CGIAR, World Bank).
- Acted as grant manager for a USD 120million project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ), reaching 100,000+ households in vulnerable communities with on-farm (agriculture) and off-farm (social cohesion, financial inclusion) support.
Programme Policy Officer, Agri Food Systems
United Nations World Food Programme
Rome, Rome
01.2020 - 07.2021
- Coordinated global strategic positioning dialogues for Food Loss and Waste in WFP leading to a positioning paper on post-harvest loss reduction, currently being used in 50+ countries.
- Acted as focal point for the World Food Programme's engagement in food loss and waste with other United Nations Rome Based Agencies (FAO, IFAD), as well as member of the writing team of the "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World-SOFI" for 2 years.
- Acted as coordinator of a Swiss-funded USD 5million resilience project in Burkina Faso jointly with FAO and IFAD for 2 years. Supported 10,000+ farmers with post-harvest management and market linkages through a number of in-country missions and remote coordination.
- Contributed to the development of a resilience strategy currently being used by WFP country offices. A resilience graduation approach adopted by 60+ countries.
Information Management Officer,Smallholder Support
United Nations World Food Programme
07.2019 - 12.2019
- Initiated an information collection and sharing system for 40+ countries implementing smallholder farmer support initiatives.
- Assisted 30+ WFP country offices in developing data collection, analysis and reporting tools.
- Introduced a knowledge sharing platform among countries implementing smallholder and food systems support initiatives which brought together 30+ countries who regularly meet and share lessons learnt and good practices.
Programme Policy Officer, Farm to Market Alliance
United Nations World Food Programme
Kigali, Rwanda
07.2016 - 06.2019
- Facilitated agronomy, post-harvest handling and market access support for 160,000+ farmers leading to 30,000+ metric tons of grade one crop sale.
- Facilitated smallholders' access to finance through access to loans and solidarity savings: USD 1million+ mobilized through input and aggregation loans, 10,000+ farmers engaged in savings.
- Established an alliance of local actors involved in value chains to develop smallholder farmer support scalable models. 10+ actors mobilized including research institutions, academia, NGOs, financial institutions, input companies and commodity buyers.
- Co-managed a USD 10million Home Grown School Feeding Project from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for 3 years. 20,000+ smallholder farmers supported to supply 5,000MT of grade one beans to schools.
Deputy Country Manager
International Center for Tropical Agriculture, HarvestPlus
01.2012 - 06.2016
- Led introduction and scale up of biofortification through production and marketing of high Iron beans to 500,000+ farmers in 4 years.
- Acted as HarvestPlus deputy country manager for two years (2014-2016) supervising 20+ staff and assisting 300+ partners.
- Developed and implemented a commercialization strategy for high Iron beans - leading to a 20% market share on the beans' retail market.
- Facilitated scale up of high Iron beans and Vitamin A maize to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo though collaboration with World Vision Burundi and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture respectively. 5000MT of certified seed produced in Rwanda and delivered to the 2 countries in one year.
- Acted as project manager of a 2-year USD 5million project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for scale up of biofortified beans in Rwanda. 3 new seed varieties introduced, foundation seed multiplication grew from 500MT to 2000MT per year, 100 new seed multipliers onboarded and 2 local seed companies introduced.
- Co-author of 4 publications which focused on introduction, adoption, consumer acceptance and commercialization of biofortified foods in Rwanda.
Research Assistant
Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board
01.2009 - 12.2011
- Performed statistical, qualitative and quantitative analyses for 5+ agriculture studies leading to implementation of projects that introduced improved crop varieties in different agro-ecological zones of Rwanda.
- Contributed to the introduction of 4 new joint projects between the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research.
- Building on the recommendations of the academic thesis, introduced terracing and agroforestry technologies in 3 districts with landscapes vulnerable to soil erosion. 2000+ farmers trained and involved in terracing and tree planting.
Education
Master of Science - Geo-Information Science For Environment
University Of Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda 01.2014 - 07.2016
Bachelor of Science - Soil And Environment Management
National University Of Rwanda
Butare, Rwanda 01.2009 - 11.2011
Diploma - General Agriculture
National University of Rwanda
Butare, Rwanda 01.2006 - 11.2008
Skills
Project Management
Strategy and Policy Formulation
Stakeholder mapping and engagement
Proposal writing and fundraising
Agriculture Value Chain Commercialization
Monitoring and Evaluation
Business negotiation
Additional Information
Nationality: Rwandan
Marital Status: Married
Professional email address: jeandamour.nkundimana@undp.org
Referees
Available upon request
Timeline
Program Manager, Agriculture Commercialization
United Nations Development Programme - UNDP
03.2025 - Current
Food Systems Specialist
United Nations World Food Programme
08.2021 - 04.2022
Programme Policy Officer, Agri Food Systems
United Nations World Food Programme
01.2020 - 07.2021
Information Management Officer,Smallholder Support
United Nations World Food Programme
07.2019 - 12.2019
Programme Policy Officer, Farm to Market Alliance
United Nations World Food Programme
07.2016 - 06.2019
Master of Science - Geo-Information Science For Environment
University Of Rwanda
01.2014 - 07.2016
Deputy Country Manager
International Center for Tropical Agriculture, HarvestPlus
01.2012 - 06.2016
Research Assistant
Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board
01.2009 - 12.2011
Bachelor of Science - Soil And Environment Management
National University Of Rwanda
01.2009 - 11.2011
Diploma - General Agriculture
National University of Rwanda
01.2006 - 11.2008
Head, Food Systems and Resilience
United Nations World Food Programme
5 2022 - 02.2025
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