Mr Thomas, a national of St Kitts and Nevis, holds a B.Sc. in General Agriculture, an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Crop Science from the University of the West Indies. Prior to joining FAO, Mr Thomas has held various positions of increasing responsibility in St Kitts and Nevis. From 1978 to 1982, he served as Sugarcane Agronomist of the St Kitts Sugar Manufacturing Corporation. From 1984 to 1994, he was Agronomist, responsible for crop and vegetable research in the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture of St Kitts and Nevis. From 1994 to 2007, he was Director of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, St Kitts and Nevis. In 2008, he served as Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture of St Kitts and Nevis. In September 2008, Mr. Thomas joined FAO as a Project Coordinator of FAO’s subregional project on Agricultural Diversification in the Windward Islands stationed in Barbados (GCP/RLA/167/EC) . Mr Thomas succeeds Mr D. Campbell as FAO Representative in Jamaica.