Dr. Amare Ayalew is Manager of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) based at the African Union Commission. He has led PACA’s strategic planning process and the launch and execution of regional and country programs as well as its continental and global advocacy and technical work to bring food safety at the center of policy dialogues and priorities. Dr Ayalew has researched the occurrence, epidemiology, and management of aflatoxins and other mycotoxins as well as plant health for over 25 years and published extensively in the field. Prior to joining PACA, he had served as Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Head of the School of Plant Sciences at Haramaya University, Ethiopia. He has supervised more than 50 post-graduate students including 10 at PhD level. Dr. Ayalew received PhD (summa cum laude) in plant pathology/mycotoxicology from the University of Goettingen, Germany, 2002, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Haramaya University in Ethiopia. He is certified in project management, evidence-based policy making, higher institution leadership, and pest risk analysis. He had been a visiting professor at Texas A&M University, USA and a sanitary and phytosanitary fellow of USDA. He had been a research fellow of the Bavarian State Research Center in Munich, Germany, studying mycotoxigenic fungi, mycotoxins, and biorational plant disease control during five different periods between 1993 and 2012. Dr. Ayalew has served as member of the advisory board of the aflatoxin biocontrol initiative of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the International Advisory Board of the World Mycotoxin Forum and is a member of a number of professional organizations.