Osman Tahidu Damba (PHD) is a distinguished Agricultural Economist and Secretary‑General of the Ghana Commission for UNESCO. He earned his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Atatürk University in Turkey (2017), holds an MPhil in Agribusiness from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a BSc in Agricultural Technology from the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale.
Prior to assuming his role at UNESCO, Dr. Damba served as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural & Food Economics at UDS, where he taught courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Postharvest Value Chains, Agro‑Enterprise Development, Agricultural Policy, and Climate Change impacts. He is a seasoned researcher and educator with core interests spanning across agricultural policy, climate and food systems, agribusiness SMEs, market access, finance, farm business management, price transmission, and policy analysis.

Dr. Damba brings over 15 years of international and local development experience. He has held pivotal roles at organizations including the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Pan African Organization for Sustainable Development (POSDEV), Farmers Organization Network Ghana (FONG), and the Association of Church Development Projects (ACDEP), leading evaluations, agribusiness clusters, market access initiatives, among others.