Professor Djikeng is the 4th Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). He is a global science, innovation and partnerships leader with focus on agricultural development, human health, animal health and environmental health.
Prior to ILRI and the CGIAR, Professor Djikeng was Director of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) and based at the Roslin Institute, where he served as the Chair for Tropical Agriculture and Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Professor Djikeng has over two decades research, research management and institutional development experience in academia and in international not for profit research institutions in Africa, Europe and the USA. He is Professor at The University of Edinburgh (UK), Honorary Fellow at Scotland Rural College (SRUC, UK), Distinguished Professor at the University of South Africa and Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland’s Center for Animal Science (Australia).
Professor Djikeng serves on numerous science advisory and philanthropy boards: Chair of The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) trustees directors (UK), Chair of the Kirkhouse Trust (UK), member of External Advisory Panel of the Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development (NISD, UK), Member Science for Africa Foundation board (Kenya), member 2Blades Foundation board (USA), Member Technical Advisory Group of the BAIF Genetic improvement program (India). He has received significant awards including the 2020 Nelson Mandela Peace Award, recognition by the Decade of Health 2021 campaign as one of the 10 people in the United Kingdom changing health, and the 2024 World Food Prize Top Agri-Food Pioneer.