Carin Smaller

Carin has worked for over 15 years advising policymakers, donors and parliamentarians in more than 20 countries on public and private investment and trade in agriculture and food systems. She co-founded the Shamba Centre to continue her lifelong quest to end hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Before setting up the Shamba Centre, Carin was the Director of Agriculture, Trade, and Investment at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Director of the Trade Information Project at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

She was the co-Director and co-author of Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger, a three-year research project combining artificial intelligence and economic modelling to find the most effective ways and costs to end hunger, double farmer incomes and protect the climate.  

She also co-authored the Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and Water, published by IISD, the first attempt at a model contract for developing countries to attract foreign investment for agriculture, while reducing poverty and protecting the environment.  

Carin holds a LLB and a BSc in Political Science from the University of New South Wales. Carin was born and grew up in South Africa and has lived and worked in Australia, India, Namibia, Nepal, Tanzania and Switzerland.

Languages: English, French