Since 2016, Atsuko Toda has been serving as the Director of the Agriculture Finance & Rural Development (AHFR) department of the African Development Bank.
Prior to joining the African Development Bank, Ms. Toda worked with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 1997; initially working in several countries in South and East Asia including Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam. She did field work in Nepal from 2000-2004, with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and later returned to IFAD as Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos and developed projects in rural communities focused on food security and market access. She moved to Africa from 2012-2016 and served as Country Manager for Nigeria for IFAD, managing portfolio of investments in rural development building partnerships with private sector food processing to provide market access to farmers.
Ms. Toda holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, with specialization in multi-cultural societies, from the Doshisha University of Kyoto, Japan; a diploma in developmental studies from Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom; and a master’s degree in public administration, with specialization in rural finance, from the International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, Japan.