US Trade Official Luke Lindberg Named WFP Executive Director

Luke J. Lindberg, a senior US agricultural trade official, has been appointed the next Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), moving from a role focused on expanding agricultural exports to leading the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger.

Lindberg currently serves as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he oversees the department’s international agricultural trade portfolio. He joined the USDA in 2025 after a career spanning trade promotion, international business and global health.

Lindberg will succeed Cindy McCain, who served as executive director from April 2023 until May 2026. Carl Skau has been serving as acting executive director during the transition.

Lindberg’s background is closely tied to agricultural markets and international trade. Before joining the USDA, he founded and led South Dakota Trade, a public-private organisation focused on expanding international markets for exporters from the US state, serving as its president and chief executive from November 2022 to August 2025.

He previously served as chief of staff and chief strategy officer at the US Export-Import Bank. He also worked at Sanford Health, including as Director of Global Operations for Sanford World Clinic, where he led global health operations across seven countries.

His move to WFP comes as global food insecurity remains acute. WFP says as many as 266 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity, driven by conflict, extreme weather and economic hardship. The agency provides assistance to more than 100 million people across 83 countries.

Lindberg has already worked with the WFP in his USDA role. In February, he announced that the US intended to enter into an agreement with WFP to deliver up to $452 million in fiscal 2025 Food for Peace assistance.

His appointment therefore brings together two areas of international food policy: agricultural trade and humanitarian food assistance. While his USDA role has centred on expanding markets for American agricultural producers, his new position will place him at the head of an organisation whose mandate includes delivering food assistance to populations facing conflict, displacement and food insecurity.

US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins welcomed Lindberg’s appointment, crediting him with helping the Trump administration expand US agricultural exports and international market access.

Rollins said the administration had cut the US agricultural trade deficit by 51 percent, supported 177 billion US dollars in agricultural exports, established 20 new trade agreements and frameworks, and secured billions of dollars in new agricultural purchase commitments during Lindberg’s tenure.

President Donald Trump has nominated Greg Ibach to replace Lindberg as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. Rollins described Ibach, a long-time agricultural producer and former USDA official, as an experienced leader with knowledge of both agricultural production and international markets.

Source: FSX Business News