CSISA Leadership

BMGF-CSISA, Project Leader (India)

Peter Craufurd is Senior Scientist and Nepal Country Representative. He holds a Ph.D in Crop Physiology from University of Reading and has more than 30 years of experience in managing agricultural research programs. Previously, he was Strategic Leader for Southern and Eastern Africa for the Sustainable Intensification Program, CIMMYT.

Dr. Timothy J. Krupnik, CIMMYT

USAID-CSISA, Project Leader (Nepal & Bangladesh)

Timothy Krupnik is a Senior Scientist and Systems Agronomist with CIMMYT, and holds a PhD in Environmental Studies (Agroecology) and MSc in International Agricultural Development from the University of California. He has more than 17 years of experience in agricultural research for development in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and leads a portfolio of projects including CSISA that deliver evidence-based knowledge and activities to improve the sustainability and resilience of smallholder farming systems considering agronomic, ecological, and socioeconomic objectives, methods, and indicators.

Dr. Andrew McDonald, Cornell University

CSISA Technical Consultant

Andrew McDonald is Cropping Systems Agronomist, and former Project Leader for CSISA. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Sciences from Cornell University.

Dr. Ramkanwar Malik, CIMMYT

India Country Coordinator

R.K. Malik is Senior Agronomist at CIMMYT. He received his Ph.D. in Agronomy from Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) and joined the same as Assistant Professor in 1977. He has since travelled widely and worked in multicultural teams towards the development and dissemination of resource conservation technologies, crop residue management and sustainable crop rotations in wheat and maize based cropping systems.

Dr. Sudhanshu Singh, IRRI

IRRI representative

Sudhanshu Singh is IRRI Rainfed Lowland Agronomist and will play the overall IRRI coordination role within CSISA for managing day-to-day project activities across Bangladesh, India and Nepal. His role requires him to liaise closely with project partners and build relationship with other stakeholders to ensure effective dissemination of CSISA technologies.

Dr. Avinash Kishore, IFPRI

IFPRI representative

Avinash Kishore joined IFPRI in September 2012 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow after completing his PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University. He obtained Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University before joining the PhD program. Avinash coordinates IFPRI’s CSISA activities, which focus on policies related to agricultural risk management, seed systems and markets, agricultural mechanization, and soil fertility management and fertilizers.

Cynthia Carmona, CIMMYT

CSISA Project Manager

Cynthia Carmona is the Project Manager for CSISA in India and Nepal. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has been working with CIMMYT since 2013 in the Project Management Unit at headquarters.

Vartika Singh, IFPRI

IFPRI Program Manager

Vartika Singh is Program Manager in the Environment, Production and Technology Division of IFPRI, where she is working on CSISA. Prior to joining IFPRI, she was working as Research and Training Manager with Evidence for Policy Design (India) at Harvard University and IFMR LEAD where she was working with policymakers from the Ministry of Rural Development and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, on complex policy problems in India.

Timothy Russell, CIMMYT

CSISA-MEA, Chief of Party

Tim Russell is the Chief of Party (CoP) for the USAID Feed the Future Cereal System Initiative for South Asia Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA). He is a British agronomist with over 40 years of experience of managing agricultural development programs in Africa and Asia. He started his career as research agronomist at the Pakhribas Agricultural Centre in eastern Nepal in 1978 and this led to research agronomist roles in Lesotho, Uganda and Zambia. Subsequently, he managed agricultural development programs for DFID, USAID and IFAD in Mozambique, and the European Union in Angola. Most recently he was CoP of the USAID CSISA-BD, Rice Value Chain, and Rice and Diversified Crops activities in Bangladesh.

Ansar (Iqbal) Ahammed Siddiquee, CIMMYT

CSISA-MEA, Project Manager

Iqbal Siddiquee is the Project Manager of CSISA-MEA in Bangladesh. Being a graduate of Computer Science, he also did his MDS in Project Management. He has more than 20 years of experience working in South Asia and Western Africa in various development sectors, i.e. Agriculture, Education, Health & Nutrition, Market Development and Women Empowerment.