Nazaire Idrissou Houssou, a Benin national, joined the World Bank Group in 2019 and is currently holding the position of Agriculture Economist within the Agriculture and Food Global Practice, for Western and central Africa. He worked in a range of operations in agriculture, including sector policy dialogue, and is currently leading Bank-funded $160 million Agricultural Competitiveness and Diversification Project. Prior to joining the Bank, he served as an Economic Growth Specialist at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID 2018-2019). From 2012 to 2017, he served as a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. He has published several articles in the field of agricultural transformation, mechanization, proxy means testing, and targeting of input subsidy programs.