Maryam Rahmanian (Iran) is currently a consultant on agroecology and biodiversity at the FAO. She is committed to the participation of smallholder farmers and other members of civil society in both research and policy processes that affect their lives, as well as the interface between the two. Her field experience began in her native Iran. She has been a Research Associate at the Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment, an Iranian NGO, where she initiated and led a national programme on Participatory Plant Breeding. Working with small farmers and pastoralists as well as formally trained scientists and policy makers has given her a unique perspective on the need to find ways to bridge the knowledge systems of different social actors.
She was Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) for two terms, from its establishment in 2010 until 2015. The HLPE aims to improve the robustness of policy making by providing independent, evidence-based analysis and advice at the request of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). She is also a panel member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems where she contributes to the co-creation of knowledge on biodiversity and agroecology. She has been a Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Soil Forum.