Dr Prabhu Pingali, FAO (ESA)
Director, FAO Agricultural and Development Economics Division (ESA) and the President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). Pingali has over twenty years of experience in assessing the extent and impact of technical change in developing country agriculture in Asia, Africa and Latin America. An Indian national, he earned a PhD in Economics from North Carolina State University in 1982.
E-mail: prabhu.pingali@fao.org

Prof Johan Pottier, SOAS, London, UK
Professor of Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. He specializes in the social dynamics of food security, humanitarian aid, and media representations of conflict, with reference to the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa. Current research focuses on political and humanitarian aspects of the crisis in Ituri, eastern DR Congo.
E-mail: Jp4@soas.ac.uk

Noreen Prendiville, FSAU, Somalia
With a background in nutrition, food security and health, has worked in developing country settings for over 17 years and currently manages the nutrition component of the FAO Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) in Somalia. Areas of particular interest include the development of regional standards in information collection and the development of stronger local capacity to maintain and use information systems.
E-mail: noreen.prendiville@fsau.or.ke

Erminio Sacco, FAO (TCE)
Food Security Analyst with FAO-TCER (Rehabilitation and Humanitarian Policies Unit). Background in rural development and programme cycle management. Food security and vulnerability analysis: extensive field experience in countries affected by chronic food insecurity and protracted crises. Development and management of food security information systems. Relief/rehabilitation transition: food security policy formulation, planning and support to programme management.
E-mail: erminio.sacco@fao.org

Carlo Scaramella, WFP (OD)
Chief, Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit (OEP), Operations Department, WFP. Works on strengthening WFP's emergency preparedness and humanitarian response capacity including through enhanced inter-agency coordination,and improved global early warning, contingency and operational planning, and crisis management. Prior to this has been Senior Program Adviser at the Office of Humanitarian Affairs, WFP. Has worked with different UN agencies in the field, including in Sudan and Angola, and carried out field research in Somalia for his Doctorate in Political Science. Main areas of interest: emergency preparedness, complex emergencies, peace issues and transitional situations.
E-mail: Carlo.Scaramella@WFP.ORG

Mark Smulders, FAO (ESAF)
Senior Economist with FAO Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Service. Sixteen years experience in food security analysis and food security policy and programme development, including capacity/institution building, as well as building partnerships and networks in support of strengthening national and regoinal food security information systems. Experience in both development and complex emergency settings.
E-mail: mark.smulders@fao.org

Massimo Tommasoli, Cooperazione Italia
Senior Policy Advisor, Directorate General for Development Co-operation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome. From 1999 to 2003 he headed the Good Governance and Conflict Prevention Unit in the Development Co-operation Directorate at the OECD. He holds a doctorat in Ethnology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales of Paris. He has extensive experience in social development, aid evaluation and population resettlement, and field experience in sub-saharan Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania), Latin America (Colombia), Asia (Nepal) and the Russian Federation.
E-mail: Massimo.Tommasoli@esteri.it

Marcela Villarreal, FAO (SDWP)
Chief, Population and Development Service, FAO. Works on helping governments to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and rural development as well as addressing gender inequalities in all aspects of rural development.
E-mail: marcela.villarreal@fao.org

Philip White, Independent consultant
Research and consultancy includes: emergencies, humanitarian assistance and aid policy; food security policy, planning and assessment; food security information/early warning systems; conflict early warning and mitigation; land tenure and resettlement; social protection and safety nets; project cycle management in agricultural and rural development; asylum. Special countries/regions of interest: Horn of Africa (esp. Eritrea, Ethiopia); Southern Africa (esp. Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe); and Nepal.
E-mail: philip@rauwhite.freeserve.co.uk

Liva Zoli, ActionAid Italia
Focal point in Rome on Food and Hunger for ActionAid. Partnership opportunities for Rome-based food agencies. Field work in the Balkans and Eritrea, specifically in emergency contexts. Desk officer for the Balkans and responsible for repatriation projects in Bosnia Herzegovina/Kosovo.
E-mail: liviaz@azioneaiuto.it

Dr Samuel Zziwa, IGAD

E-mail: samuel.zziwa@igad.org