Dr. Valantine Achancho

Dr Valantine Achancho is IFAD’s Country Director for Bangladesh, effective from July 2024.

Dr Achancho leads the IFAD’s Bangladesh country portfolio advocating for and enhancing national government programmes that strengthen climate resilience in vulnerable rural communities through infrastructure and climate-smart agriculture, while enhancing access to finance, technology, and markets for smallholders and marginalized groups to diversify the economy and create rural jobs.
Before coming to Bangladesh Dr Achancho served as IFAD Country Director and Representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo from 2020 to 2024, and previously held the same position for Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
He also served as IFAD Country Program Officer for Cameroon and Gabon, and Programme Officer for the Indian Ocean region, contributing to rural development projects in the Sahel and Congo basin, mobilizing co-financing, and strengthening partnerships with governments, donors, and civil society to improve rural livelihoods.

Before joining IFAD in 2011, Dr Achancho served as Deputy Director of farmers’ professional organizations and cooperative movement, and senior engineer in charge for prospective analysis and agricultural policies in the Ministry of Agriculture in Cameroon. His earlier positions include national coordinator for Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funded project, visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Dschang in Cameroon, and consultant for IFAD, the World Bank and European Union operations.

Achancho holds a PhD in Sociology for Development from Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (AgroParisTech, France), a master’s degree in tropical and subtropical Agronomy from CNEARC, Montpellier, France, and a master’s degree in agricultural economics (Ingénieur Agro-économiste) from the University of Dschang, Cameroon.