Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella (born July 5, 1959) is a Sierra Leonean agricultural economist, politician who served as a member of parliament and Chair of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security under President Julius Maada Bio's government.

[3] He is a public speaker, who addresses global issues, including poverty reduction, climate change,[4] the Millennium Development Goals,[5] and[6] green industry and renewable energy.

Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was born on July 5, 1959, in the rural village of Kychom, Samu Chiefdom, Kambia District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

His father, the late paramount chief Alhaji Bai Shebora Yumkella II, was an ethnic Susu and a founding member of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

His mother Haja Binta Yumkella is an ethnic Fula from Tambakha Chiefdom, Bombali District in Northern Province, Sierra Leone.

Yumkella was a Member of the Rio+20 Principals Group, which played a crucial role in the preparations for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

Under his leadership, UNIDO was at the forefront in providing solutions to many of the challenges the global community faces today: poverty, jobs, wealth creation and climate change.

at UNIDO he gained a reputation for being an effective organizer who implemented policies and projects with impressive drive and focus, thus producing results of great and resplendent caliber.

Under his administration UNIDO experienced an unprecedented level of growth in its programmes and has maintained a role as the largest trade-related technical assistance to developing countries in the United Nations System.

Dr Yumkella has extensive specialized executive and advisory experience in program formulation, management and implementation of funds mobilization in fields such as private sector development, public-private sector dialogue and partnerships, small and medium enterprises(SMEs), support systems, capacity-building in industry and business associations, trade capacity-building, agro-industry and rural development.

The members of the Group, comprising international experts, industry leaders and United Nations system representatives, advise on energy issues critical to the new global climate change deal and beyond.