He currently serves as FAO Representative in Barbados ad interim and Officer-in-Charge of FAO’s Subregional Office for the Caribbean. Since joining FAO in 2018, he has held regional responsibilities in agricultural trade and markets, alongside senior leadership assignments in Jamaica, Belize, and The Bahamas.

His professional career spans leading international organizations, including ISNAR, Oxfam Great Britain, RIMISP–Latin American Center for Rural Development, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), and FAO. His experience combines policy analysis, advocacy, institutional development, programme management, resource mobilization, and partnership building.

Throughout his career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and initiatives promoting inclusive agricultural value chains, market access, sustainable livelihoods, private sector engagement, and innovative financing for agrifood systems transformation.

He places particular emphasis on developing human talent, fostering strategic partnerships, and building relationships of trust across institutions and stakeholders.

He holds a degree in Economics from INTEC, Dominican Republic, and a Master's degree in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

He currently serves as FAO Representative in Barbados ad interim and Officer-in-Charge of FAO’s Subregional Office for the Caribbean. Since joining FAO in 2018, he has held regional responsibilities in agricultural trade and markets, alongside senior leadership assignments in Jamaica, Belize, and The Bahamas.

His professional career spans leading international organizations, including ISNAR, Oxfam Great Britain, RIMISP–Latin American Center for Rural Development, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), and FAO. His experience combines policy analysis, advocacy, institutional development, programme management, resource mobilization, and partnership building.

Throughout his career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and initiatives promoting inclusive agricultural value chains, market access, sustainable livelihoods, private sector engagement, and innovative financing for agrifood systems transformation.

He places particular emphasis on developing human talent, fostering strategic partnerships, and building relationships of trust across institutions and stakeholders.

He holds a degree in Economics from INTEC, Dominican Republic, and a Master's degree in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Dr Smith has worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for over 14 years, leading programme development and implementation in several countries of the Caribbean, engaging with governments and other stakeholders in a wide range of areas covered by the Organization and in alignment with national and regional priorities. Dr Smith has also worked at the sub-regional and regional level of the FAO, developing Country Programming Frameworks and supporting the design of FAO’s Caribbean sub-regional priorities, and worked on initiatives to enhance alignment and synergies between the Caribbean and Latin American work programme.

Dr Smith is committed to promoting sustainable approaches to development, recognizing and respecting the views and aspirations of all stakeholders (especially the voiceless and most vulnerable) in the development process. Her abiding interest is to continue active engagement in development, ensuring that equity and social justice inform choices and responses. She is confident that people have within themselves an often unexplored capacity for doing better.

Dr. Ana Touza is the FAO Representative for Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize. A rural sociologist and gender specialist with over 20 years of experience in international development, she holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO). She has worked across Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, leading research and programmes on inclusive agriculture, gender equity and sustainable food systems.