Esther Kasalu-Coffin is the Country Director for Kenya and the head of the Eastern Africa and Indian Ocean (Kenya) Hub, at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and now based in Nairobi. She was previously responsible for Ghana and Togo, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Botswana as the Country Programme Manager IFAD. Her current responsibilities include the management of the Kenya IFAD Country Office as well as the Hub, developing and implementing country strategies, supporting and overseeing implementation of IFAD- financed investments; forging strategic partnerships; promoting constructive poverty reduction policy dialogue; and being a conduit and catalyst of knowledge management and innovation.

Her earlier positions a Senior Policy Officer and Task Manager at the African Development Bank, and prior to this she was a consultant with FAO Ghana Regional Office. Additionally, she has consulted with Statistics Canada and Zambia Ministry of Agriculture, on all aspects of the project cycle from formulation to evaluation in Canada, India, Italy and Zambia.  Esther Kasalu-Coffin holds an M.Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Manitoba in Canada and a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Zambia.