H.E. Amb. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime | Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union

Rhoda Peace Tumusiime became a member of the IFDC Board of Directors in 2010. She serves on the board’s Africa and Budget committees.

Tumusiime is the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union. In previous positions, Tumusiime served as Commissioner for Agricultural Planning and Development and Commissioner for Women and Development for the federal government of Uganda, her native country. She was instrumental in developing Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan and a gender mainstreaming policy that has propelled women and girls to greater heights in education and politics.

Tumusiime has been particularly involved in the implementation of the four pillars of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP): extending the area under land and water management; improving rural infrastructure and trade capacities for market access; increasing the food supply and reducing hunger; and agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption.

She has chaired high-level committees that deal with policy issues including trade, agriculture, environment, gender and HIV/AIDS. She has authored several publications on agricultural development, food security, poverty eradication and HIV/AIDS.

Tumusiime earned a master’s degree in economics (focusing on planning and management of rural development) from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. She received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. She also studied the role of cooperatives in women’s development in Turin, Italy.