Ms Nguyen is the deputy Permanent representative of Canada to the Food and Agriculture organisations in Rome, Italy. Prior-to her election as co-Chair of the Alliance she had been a very active member of the Strategic Committee, as well as of the Annual Forum Task Team where she made very strong contributions to the organisation of the Annual Forum. Ms Nguyen replaces Inge Herman Rydland and joins Martin Bwalya to continue providing leadership to GACSA.   

Inge Herman Ryland served as an inaugural Co-chair of GACSA and under his co-leadership the Alliance has sailed through a very successful inception year crowed by the Annual Forum on 14 – 17 June 2016.  Mr. Ryland helped to construct the Alliance and shepherd its pivot to being focused on climate-smart agriculture in-action. While he steps down as co-Chair, we recognise his strong belief in GACSA and we trust that he will remain a great ambassador of the Alliance in his new functions in the government of Norway. Mr. Ryland’s contributions to the Alliance will bear fruit as its members continue to work towards ensuring global food security in the face of climate change. We remain thankful to him for his service as GACSA Co-chair and we wish him the best in his new assignment.

More about Ms. Mi Nguyen

She is a Canadian citizen and has been the Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN food and agriculture agencies based in Rome, in particular the FAO and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). She serves as a co-chair of the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) since 17 June 2016.

A lawyer by training, Ms. Nguyen has worked as a Canadian diplomat for more than 15 years, on a range of global issues (UN affairs, human rights, humanitarian affairs, sustainable development, peacekeeping, transnational organized crime, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, as well as food security and nutrition) in various fora in New York, Geneva and Rome, including leading multi-disciplinary teams, participating in international negotiations, building diverse networks and garnering consensus.

She holds a bachelor degree in Law (Common law and Civil law) and a master’s degree in International Relations. She is fluent in French (mother tongue), English and Spanish.