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Chief Executive Officer

BIO

Rowlands Kaotcha is the President & CEO of The Hunger Project. Born and raised in rural Malawi, Rowlands has experienced the power of community working toward a brighter future. He is a passionate expert in mobilizing people, particularly women, to drive sustainable change. Rowlands has served in many regional and global leadership roles for The Hunger Project over his 23 years on staff, most recently as the Chief Program Officer.

Rowlands has been a key leader of The Hunger Project’s program strategy and spearheaded the organization’s expansion in Southern Africa. He has prioritized strengthening the capacity of our Program Country offices to effectively implement sustainable programs, support local fundraising and drive advocacy actions for policy change. Rowlands has a strong technical background and has led programs focused on food security, micro-finance, education, health & hygiene, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, access to safe drinking water, and environment & natural resource management. He regularly represents The Hunger Project in media and speaking engagements around the world. 

Prior to joining The Hunger Project, Rowlands served in roles at United Purpose (formerly Concern Universal) and at a private national seed company in Malawi. He has a B.Sc. in Agriculture and an M.Sc. in Agronomy from the Bunda College of Agriculture at the University of Malawi, and an MBA from the Eastern and Southern African Institute of Management in Tanzania.

Rowlands currently resides in Blantyre, Malawi with his family.