INPIM is very pleased to announce that Dr. Intizar Hussain will become the next Executive Director, to start his position on April 1, 2006. Dr. Hussain is presently a Senior Economist with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), based in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Hussain has over 14 years of experience in research and development work on a wide range of issues, including socio-economic, agricultural and natural resources development and management issues. Specifically he has strong expertise and proven experience of successfully leading and managing international projects related to land and water resources management, land and water productivity improvements, rural-agricultural development policy analysis, rural poverty alleviation, pro-poor intervention strategies in agriculture, project planning and implementation, and impact assessment of rural-agricultural development interventions. He has gained his experience in projects in developed countries as well as in developing countries (Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Australia and USA).

By training, he is an Agricultural and Resource Economist with extensive experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams on rural, agricultural and natural resource development issues. Dr Hussain’s work has included identification, designing, implementation and supervision of multi-disciplinary research and development projects, international comparative case studies, participatory rural appraisals, participatory poverty assessments, data analysis and modeling, project planning, monitoring and evaluations, preparation of numerous publications and project reports, development of project proposals, and organization of international workshops, conferences, seminars and study meetings. He has led several teams, and has supervised as many as 60 field and office staff at one time. He has over 95 publications of international standard. Dr. Hussain has significant experience in administrative and financial aspects of project and program management. At IWMI, he has been leading project teams in eight Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam). Dr. Hussain has served at several panels, including staff recruitment, evaluation committees and academic competition panels. Prior to joining International Water Management Institute’s headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a Senior Economist in September 1999, Dr. Hussain has been at Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (Australian Federal Public Service) as a Principal Research Officer and team leader.

Dr Hussain came from a rural-agricultural community in a developing district from Pakistan. He strongly believes that agricultural development, and improved distribution and management of land and water resources are fundamental to enhancing economic growth and improving livelihoods of the rural poor (please refer to his recent major multi-country work on ‘pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia’ published by IWMI and ADB in May 2005). He has a very clear vision and mission, and has a strong commitment to improving the lives and livelihoods of the poor in developing countries. Dr Hussain has a lifetime commitment to do work that leads to improved management of land and water resources for alleviating rural poverty in the developing world.