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Harsha Singh

Deputy Director-General, World Trade
Organization

Dr. Singh’s scope of oversight at WTO is the Agriculture and Commodities Division, Trade and Environment Division and Trade in Services Division. He has served in his post since 2005. He returned to WTO that year after affiliating for eight years with India’s telecom regulator, Trai, working principally on tariffs. During this time, Dr. Singh was also a member of several high-level WTO Committees and served as Chair of several highprofile WTO dispute settlement panels. In prior roles with GATT/WTO, he worked over 12 years in the Office of the Director-General, the Trade and Environment, Technical Barriers to Trade, Rules, and Trade Policy Review Divisions, and the Economic Research and Analysis Unit.

Dr. Singh completed his Masters in Economics from Delhi in 1979 and then attended the University of Oxford (U.K.) as a Rhodes Scholar to obtain his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics. In additional to his educational and professional background, Dr. Singh knows a bit about farming. During his youth, his father, once the lieutenant governor of Delhi, sent him every year to stay with his grandparents in the family’s rural village in Uttar Pradesh. He speaks fondly of time spent in fields tending sugar cane and sweet pea.

Kathleen Merrigan

Deputy Secretary, United States department of Agriculture

Kathleen Merrigan works alongside the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the operation of USDA’s many programs and spearheads the $149 billion USDA budget process.
She also serves on the President’s Management Council, working with other Cabinet Deputies to improve accountability and performance across the federal government. Dr. Merrigan was formerly Administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service from 1999 to 2001, where she oversaw the development of the National Organic Program regulation. In between her USDA appointments, Dr. Merrigan held a post for eight years as Assistant Professor at Tufts University, Massachusetts. She also served for six years as a senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where she had an instrumental role in writing the US Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. In November 2009, Dr. Merrigan was the first woman to chair the Ministerial Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Recognizing the history and scope of her work, Time magazine named Dr. Merrigan among the “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2010. She holds a Ph.D. degree in environmental planning and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas, and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, Massachusetts.

Franz Fischler

President, Eco-Social Forum

Franz Fischler, former Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of the European Union, has been the President of the Eco Social Forum Europe since December 2004. He also runs a consultancy business and is a lecturer in great demand. Dr. Fischler was recently one of the six candidates for the post of Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Dr. Fischler started his career in 1979 in the extension service and served as Austrian Federal Minister for Agriculture and Forestry from 1989 – 1994. In his role as Minister, he led the negotiations on agriculture issues for Austria´s accession to the European Union. From 1995 to 2004, Dr. Fischler successfully shaped European Agricultural Policy as the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of the EU. His accomplishments in this role included managing the BSE crisis, completing Agenda 2000, and reforming various agriculture and fisheries policies including the vegetable and fruit sectors and olive and wine trade regulations. A native of Tyrol, Austria, Dr. Fischler holds a PhD from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

Tumusiime Rhoda Peace

Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission

The portfolio of Her Excellency Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the African Union’s Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, covers multiple sectors including crop agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, land, water, environment, climate change, climate services, disaster risk reduction and rural development. She has worked with other Pan African Institutions and Development Partner Agencies in all those areas to secure and provide support to AU Member States, increasing responses in the framework of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Programme (CAADP). She spearheaded the coordination of Africa’s preparations for global climate change negotiations and the formulation of a continent-wide climate change strategy, and also steered Africa’s preparation of the Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plan. Formerly, H.E Tumusiime held senior positions in the Government of the Republic of Uganda, including Commissioner for Agriculture Planning and Commissioner for Women and Development She holds a bachelors’ degree in Agricultural Economics, a masters degree in Economics, Planning and Managing Rural Development, and a diploma in Women and Development.