FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for Caribbean to Retire After Almost 30 Years of Service

Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Renata Clarke, will retire from her post this year after almost three decades of service.

Based in Barbados, with more than 30 years’ experience in agri-food systems, she assumed this, her final role in April 2019, overseeing FAO’s programme of work across 13 English-speaking Caribbean countries.

Dr. Clarke spoke with JIS News during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) which runs from September 27 to October 2 at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny.

“Most of my career has been with FAO. I’m retiring after more than 27 years with FAO and consulting with FAO before then. So, it’s about 30 years with the FAO. But before then, in my younger professional career, a memory that stands out is one of my first jobs leading a food science project. I’d like to think I’m enterprising and I’m determined, but my memory of those times is being very much alone,” she said.

“I had no colleagues, I had no equipment. It was just me magically supposed to make a difference. And I remember that sometimes when we’re working in developing countries over the 30 years and I’m aware that we have titles and department names, but sometimes people are alone and are trying to do huge jobs without support. So, my own early experience reminds me of their context and maybe helps me find better solutions to reach the end,” she continued.

Born in Canada with Barbadian roots, Dr. Clarke holds a PhD in Food Science and Technology from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Canada; a master’s degree in Food Science from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of the West Indies, Barbados.

Prior to her current position, she served as Head of FAO’s Food Safety and Quality Unit at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, from 2011 to 2019.

In this role, she led initiatives to strengthen national capacities for food-safety management and to promote the effective participation of developing countries in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standards-setting body.

Over the past seven years, Dr. Clarke has led efforts to strengthen FAO’s programme of work in the Caribbean by providing concrete support for the transformation of the region’s agrifood sector to become more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and sustainable.

“I’ve been in this position for seven years. Before this, I was responsible for FAO’s food-safety capacity-building at a global level. Now the scope of my work is broader. It’s way beyond food safety. It’s everything to do with agri-food sector development but it’s on the ground in a small geographical area where I meet farmers, I meet ministers. Their problems are not theoretical, they are real and we are charged with finding concrete solutions. So, it’s been exciting, particularly at this time where agriculture and food security is really under the microscope. It’s been an exciting seven years, and yes, I’m proud that I have always given it my all,” she said.

Dr. Clarke emphasised that despite the size of the organisation she has served for the bulk of her professional journey, she believes in the scope for individual interpretation of how to respond to different circumstances.

“We must represent FAO’s rules, ideals and principles but I do believe in the power of the individual. This is a reflection that I’m proud of, and I think I’ve always looked at situations, made sure I was respecting all necessary rules, but I was very willing to take perhaps difficult interpretations if that is what I thought the situation called for.

Sometimes it’s a more difficult road, but at the end of my career, perhaps it’s one of the things that makes me more satisfied,” she said.

During her time, Dr. Clarke led the introduction of climate-smart innovations in crop production, including optimised greenhouse systems and other protective structures that incorporate sensors and digital technologies to promote precision agriculture.

Her work also spanned water management, the introduction of circular economy initiatives, the strengthening of national capacities for disaster preparedness and response as well as support for the sustainable management of marine resources and the promotion of aquaculture and mariculture to reduce pressure on open fisheries, while promoting healthy diets and new livelihood opportunities.

Dr. Clarke feels slightly conflicted about retirement, expressing that while she “looks forward to being able to define her own agenda in her retirement,” on the other hand, she really does believe in a lot of the projects she is leaving behind.

“I’m leaving some of them incomplete, so there is this conflict. I would love to see how this ends, or I would love to make sure that this lands in the way I believe it could land. So, there’s bitter and sweet. At no stage in my life have I been able to wake up in the morning and ask myself, what do I want to do today? It’s always conditioned by what I have to respond to. I’m very curious, so I’m embracing retirement with curiosity. How will I respond to this new possibility of defining my own priorities?” she said.

“As I said at the beginning, there are some things that we have started together, FAO in the countries and sometimes with other partners, that I believe will be transformational. And it would have been great to be there to the end. So, I will miss that. But I will be in touch. I will be following on, I will be Googling and finding out where projects went. So, how can I possibly divorce myself from something that’s been a part of my life for so long?” she said.

A strong advocate for partnerships and collaborations, Dr. Clarke has expanded cooperation with regional organisations, development partners, the private sector, and United Nations agencies to enhance the impact and the efficiency of technical assistance across the Caribbean.

Dr. Clarke’s legacy extends beyond the programmes and initiatives she led and the partnerships she cultivated, the people she supported, mentored and helped to build into a stronger FAO team across the region.