Romina Cavatassi

Romina Cavatassi is a Program Manager at the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development (IED), where she provides strategic and technical leadership to position IED as a global hub for knowledge, innovation, and partnerships on agrifood systems, climate adaptation, and sustainable development. Her work focuses on strengthening the link between evidence, policy, and practice, and on fostering global collaboration to address complex development challenges.

She has over 20 years of experience in international development, with most of her career dedicated to agricultural and rural development and a strong focus on natural resources, climate change, and biodiversity. Prior to joining the World Bank, she was Lead Economist at IFAD, where she led the Impact Assessment agenda, oversaw corporate reporting on development impact, and led the flagship Rural Development Report: Food System Transformation for Rural Prosperity.

She also worked at FAO, where she co-led The Unjust Climate report, contributed to the Status of Women in Agrifood Systems, and worked on natural resource economics and rural development.

Romina holds a PhD in Natural Resource Economics from Wageningen University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Bologna.