Mr. Banda Ndiaye has nearly 30 years experience in nutrition, public health and international development. His work in public health and nutrition in Senegal ranges from extensive experience in community health and nutrition program design, implementation and monitoring to nutrition program management and implementation; management of health and HIV/AIDS programs; health and nutrition program start-up and scale-up; and health staff training and coaching.

Banda is the Deputy Regional Director Health, Africa. In this role, he oversees Nutrition International’s programs in West Africa, including the quality assurance of their designs and implementation. He also supervises Nutrition International’s program integration within country systems and manages how they complement the work of Nutrition International’s partners. Banda first joined Nutrition International as Country Director for the Sahel in the fall of 2006.

Banda started his training in public health nursing at the National Nursing School of Dakar, and graduated as a registered nurse. He received his Master’s Degree in International Development at Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He began his career at the regional Hospital of Saint Louis in Senegal and held the positions of Regional Primary Health Care Manager of the region of Thies and Diourbel and Health Planning Officer within the Ministry of Health. Banda later joined World Vision Senegal as the National Health & HIV/AIDS Coordinator. There he managed the definition and implementation of the Health and HIV/AIDS Strategy and oversaw the technical and financial management of a five-year, US$1.3M Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-funded project in Micronutrients and Health in four regions of Senegal.

Banda’s key achievements as Country Director of Nutrition International Sahel include the following:

  • Awarded a 2013 Nutrition Champion Award, offered jointly by the DFID-funded research consortium Transform Nutrition, in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. The award recognizes the ‘unsung heroes’ of global nutrition.
  • Designed and assisted in implementing the first national survey to assess the magnitude of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in Senegal, which provides public health practitioners with nationwide data on IDD and their associated factors in the country.
  • Designed and established a sustainable salt iodization business model working with small salt farmers combining provision of iodization services and self-sustaining procurement of potassium iodate using a cost recovery scheme.
  • Facilitated the establishment of mandatory fortification of edible oils and wheat flour in Senegal and made significant contributions to the establishment of harmonized standards for salt iodization within the West African Monetary Union countries.
  • Positioned Nutrition International as a key Ministry of Health and West African Health organization Child Survival Interventions partner.
  • Established a strong Nutrition International and University of Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal) partnership.