President of IUAF

Contact: j.rizvi@cifor-icraf.org

Dr. Javed Rizvi is the former Director of the Asia Continental Program at the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and currently serves the organization as Principal Advisor. He has worked with CGIAR centres for nearly 25 years, including 11 years with World Agroforestry (ICRAF). Dr. Rizvi holds a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology and brings more than 45 years of experience in agricultural teaching, research, and development.

He has been instrumental in advancing agroforestry research and education across Asia and has played a pivotal role in the development and implementation of national agroforestry policies in India, Nepal, and the Maldives. India became the first country globally to formulate and implement a dedicated National Agroforestry Policy, a milestone that significantly accelerated the adoption and impact of agroforestry nationwide. One of the most notable outcomes of this policy is that India now meets more than 70% of its timber requirements through agroforestry systems.

Dr. Rizvi has also played a central role in introducing the first geoinformatics-based, mobile phone application for agroforestry, which provides practitioners with technical guidance on the selection of suitable tree species along with complete packages of practices for successful system implementation. Additionally, he has led the dissemination of cutting-edge mid-infrared (MIR)–based technologies developed by ICRAF for cost-effective, reliable, and large-scale soil health monitoring.

Throughout his career, Dr. Rizvi has led resource mobilization and the implementation of large, multi-million-dollar development and research projects across several Asian countries. He has published approximately 80 internationally recognized research papers and authored or co-authored more than 12 books, several of which have received international awards.