Rémi Nono Womdim

Rémi Nono Womdim is the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Viet Nam. He previously served as Deputy Director of FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) in Rome, Italy from 2018-2021 and was also the Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention-FAO. In this position, he supported NSP Director in providing strategic, managerial and technical leadership for the work of the Division in the area of sustainable crop production intensification and diversification. Prior to his assignment at NSP, he was FAO Representative in Cabo Verde (2014-2018), Programme Specialist (Seed Sector Development) and Agricultural Officer (Horticulture/vegetable Crops) at NSP in Rome (2009-2014).

Among his many achievements, Nono Womdim has contributed to the establishment of various multi-stakeholder platforms, provided advice to and guided the formulation of national policies and strategies for the development of the seed sector and the horticulture sector in FAO Member Nations in Africa, Caribbean, Asia and Near East. He represented FAO in the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) and advocated for smallholder farmers access to quality seeds of improved rice varieties.

Prior to joining FAO in 2009, Nono Womdim was Programme Research Manager and Liaison Officer at the World Vegetable Center in Arusha-Tanzania (2007-2009); Director of Research and Development of Technisem-Tropicasem Group in Savigny-sur-Orge, France, and in Dakar, Senegal (2001-2007); Vegetable Specialist/Plant Pathologist at the World Vegetable Center in Arusha-Tanzania (1994-2001). He started his career in 1988 as Research Associate in the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), meanwhile working as Lecturer at the University of Avignon and Pays du Vaucluse, in Avignon, France. He has been invited Professor of Plant Pathology/Breeding at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, The Philippines and at Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique (ENSA) of Thiès, Senegal.

Nono Womdim has specific strengths in fostering action-oriented and productive partnerships, providing leadership and strategic guidance on managing multilateral programmes and multicultural teams for agriculture and rural development. He is also internationally known for his work on breeding vegetable crops for disease resistance and ensuring that smallholder farmers have access to quality seeds of improved varieties. He has authored or co-authored several scientific papers, book chapters, conference papers and proceedings. He served as Associate Editor of Fruits, The International Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture, a leading scientific journal, published by the International Society for Horticultural Science.

Nono Womdim holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences and a Master of Science in Plant Pathology from the University of Paris XI in France, and a Bachelor of Science in Plant Biology from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon.