Richard Trenchard
Dick Trenchard has more than 25 years development, humanitarian and crisis experience. A land tenure and property specialist by background, he has worked for the United Nations at FAO, IFAD and WFP (on secondment).
Before this dual appointment as FAO Representative ad interim for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in November 2020, he was head of Regional Policy and Senior Adviser for the Near East and North Africa, based in FAO’s regional office in Cairo, focusing on transforming food systems for healthy diets, rural growth and sustainable environmental management. Previously, he has been FAO’s first “Whole of Syria Coordinator” and FAO Representative in Somalia, playing a key leadership role in an unprecedented – and successful – international and national effort to prevent famine warming becoming the spectre of famine. He also has experience from a range of sudden-onset and complex emergency settings, including South Sudan, Sudan (Darfur), Liberia, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Rwanda and has supported development programmes and operations in more than thirty other countries.
Previously, he has played advisory roles in FAO’s Senior Management team and been part of technical teams providing longer-term development support to countries around the world, mainly on land tenure and livelihood-related work.
He has a PhD from Cambridge University (UK).