Charles Iyangbe, Ph.D.

Dr. Charles Iyangbe is an agriculture economist with more than 24 years of experience supporting partnerships to enhance value chains, food security, and livelihoods among smallholder farmers in Africa. He has extensive experience with large-scale, multi-sector international development projects, program management, and business development. He has held various leadership roles in organizations such as CGIAR centers (IITA), Catholic Relief Services, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Nigeria, and Heifer International. He has been instrumental in advancing economic cooperation and development around agribusiness, agriculture, food security, and livelihood initiatives in West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa.

As global business development executive for West Africa, Iyangbe is responsible for identifying business opportunities through client engagement, client and partner networks, and market intelligence tools and data. His goals include developing and managing relationships with key donor institutions and agencies, including government engagement and delivery, and providing strategic direction to help expand Abt’s programs, funding, and partnerships in the region. That direction will be based on identifying customers’ strategic priorities, goals, pain points, and needs. He then will collaborate with Abt experts to identify and shape high level solutions to address client requirements.

Before joining Abt, Iyangbe served as Heifer International’s signature program director for Africa and regional director for business development for West Africa. He developed and managed relationships with key institutions and agencies, including governments, and provided strategic direction to help expand Heifer’s programs and funding in Africa. He led the West Africa regional business development strategy and implementation of agribusiness and value-chain programs and projects to improve smallholder farmers’ incomes. He also served as senior agriculture economist for USAID Nigeria, leading the design of five Feed the Future (FTF) Nigeria activities valued at $215 million. Before USAID, he was deputy chief of party (COP), then COP for Catholic Relief Service on the FTF Nigeria project.

Expertise:

• Agriculture
• Agribusiness
• Value chain
• Economic development
• Resilience building
• Business development

Key Projects:

• Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project
• USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub
• USAID Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity
• USAID Feed the Future Agribusiness Investment Activity
• USAID Feed the Future Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services Activity

Publications:

• Iyangbe, C.O and Orewa, S.I: Assessment of the Calorie-Protein Consumption Pattern among Rural and Low-Income Urban Households in Nigeria Assessment of the Calorie-Protein Consumption Pattern among Rural and Low-Income Urban Households in Nigeria. Middle East Journal of Scientific Research 4 (4): 297-306, IDOSI Publication 2009 · Jan 1, 2009 
• Iyangbe, C.O and Orewa, S.I: Determinants of Daily Protein Intake among Rural and Low-Income Urban Households in Nigeria – Published 2009: American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research 4 (4): 290-301, IDOSI Publication 2009Iyangbe, C.O and Orewa, S.I: Determinants of Daily Protein Intake among Rural and Low-Income Urban Households in Nigeria – Published 2009: American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research 4 (4): 290-301, IDOSI Publication 2009
• Iyangbe CO, Orewa SI. Determinants of Daily Protein Intake among Rural and Low- Income Urban Households in Nigeria. American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research. 2009;4(4):290-301.
• Orewa, S. I., and Iyangbe, C. Food Insecurity Profile among the Rural and Low-income Urban in Nigeria Food Insecurity Profile among the Rural and Low-income Urban in Nigeria. American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research 4 (5): 308-319, IDOSI Publication 2009 · Jan 1, 2009
• Orewa, S. I., and Iyangbe, C. “The struggle against hunger: The victims and the food and the food security strategies adopted in adverse conditions.” World Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(6), 740-745, 2010.