Susan Chomba
Director of Vital Landscapes, WRI Africa
Dr. Susan Chomba is the Director of Vital Landscapes for Africa at the World Resources Institute (WRI). She leads the institution’s work on Forests, Food systems and People which includes forest landscape restoration, sustainable agriculture/food systems and thriving rural livelihoods in Africa. Vital Landscapes work at WRI contributes directly to five global goals:
- climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- reducing poverty and enhancing gender equity;
- reversing biodiversity loss;
- building resilience in agriculture and food systems;
- enhancing access to clean energy for services and production.
Susan is a scientist with over 15 years of research and development experience in Africa. She previously led the Regreening Africa Programme at CIFOR-ICRAF, whose primary objective was to restore degraded lands by scaling up proven and cost-effective technologies and practices across eight countries in Africa: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Niger, Ghana, Mali and Senegal. She has been instrumental in setting the agenda for landscape restoration through local, national and global platforms.
She is a member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and an associate editor for political ecology for the international journal, Frontiers in Human Dynamics.
She holds a PhD in forest governance from the university of Copenhagen, Denmark, a double MSc. in agricultural development and agroforestry from the university of Copenhagen and Bangor university respectively; and a BSc. in forestry from Moi university in Kenya.
She was named one of Global Landscape Forum (GLF) 16 Women Restoring the Earth in 2021.
Susan is a distinguished global ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience under the UN High Level Champions for Climate Action.
Insights
Research
External Publications
Projects
Circular Food Systems for Rwanda
Launch PlatformLaunch Platform Visit ProjectThe Circular Food Systems for Rwanda project aims to transform Rwanda’s food system so that it is more circular and sustainable.
Part of FoodRestore Local
Visit ProjectAccelerating locally led land restoration across Africa’s vital landscapes
Part of Forest and Landscape Restoration