Jesus Quintana

Jesus Quintana is since March 2020 the Director General of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), part or the Alliance between Bioversity International and CIAT, and the Managing Director for the Americas of the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, two centers of excellence in agriculture, nutrition and environmental research that are part of the CGIAR global network. Jesus is based at the Hub of the Americas in Palmira, Colombia.

Jesus Quintana has over thirty years of work in the sectors of food security, agriculture and rural development, climate change, environmental conservation, and landscape and natural resource management. Most of this experience has been in international cooperation activities in various countries, working with governments; United Nations entities; other international agencies such as AECID, GEF, JICA and USAID; CGIAR institutions; NGOs, and other partners. Jesus has extensive international experience, with positions of increasing responsibility in Spain, Guatemala, Mozambique, Bolivia, Paraguay, Philippines, Italy, Peru and Colombia, among other destinations.

Jesus was born in Malaga (Spain) and holds a degree in Forestry Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Sociologist degree from UNED in Spain. He also holds a Master's degree in Environment and Development from the University of Reading (UK).