As programs director – agribusiness and rural enterprise – Melba works to develop new strategies and tactics aligned with iDE’s global priorities, playing a vital role in accelerating our impact in Mozambique by overseeing a portfolio of projects. Melba is an agro-enterprise development expert with 30 years of experience in the development sector, including more than 10 years on project management and 20 years work in Mozambique. She has led food security, nutrition and agribusiness development programs with funding from USAID, the World Bank, and the Gates Foundation, among many others. At iDE, she most recently served as deputy chief of party for the USAID-funded RESINA project in northern Mozambique.

Melba earned a master’s in management from Isabela State University in the Philippines and a bachelor of science in agribusiness management from Benguet State University, Philippines. Before joining iDE full-time in 2017, she was an agro-enterprise development specialist for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture based in Nigeria, and later managed two multi-country projects in Southern Africa. She was also senior advisor on private sector development for SNV Netherlands in Mozambique, project officer for the Development Academy of the Philippines, and marketing and enterprise development specialist for the Central Cordillera Agricultural Programme in the Philippines. A devout Christian, she places a high value on honesty and trustworthiness.