Food scientist, nutritional biochemist and international development expert, Dr. Tawanda Muzhingi joined RTI Innovation Advisors in 2021. He has over 20 years’ experience supporting innovation initiatives for food and agriculture companies and foundations, and has worked in the international food business, food science, food policy and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United States.
Prior to RTI, Dr. Muzhingi worked with the International Potato Center (CIP), a CGIAR research center, where he was a senior food scientist and flagship leader in the Roots, Tubers and Bananas Program in Nairobi, Kenya. There, he led the market systems development and commercialization of roots, tubers, and banana crops, and collaborated with food industry organizations, including retailers, small and medium enterprises, the informal sector labor force, and women’s and youth groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. His focus included nutrition-sensitive agriculture, food safety, food analysis, post-harvest research and breeding and market traits.
Prior to CIP, Dr. Muzhingi worked nine years in human nutrition, carotenoids, retinoids, and antioxidants chemistry research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HRNCA) at Tufts University in Boston, MA. HRNCA is the largest research center in the world devoted to studying the role of nutrition in the prevention of age-related chronic diseases. Dr. Muzhingi is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Tawanda is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and American Society for Nutrition.
