Maria Helena Semedo (born 29 May 1959) is a Cape Verde economist and politician who served as Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

[1] Semedo worked as an economist for the Bank of Cape Verde from 1986 to 1991 and for the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation from 1991 to 1993.

In June 2013, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the FAO, appointed her Deputy Director-General and Coordinator of Natural Resources and served there till 2017.

[2] At a speech in Rome in 2014, Semedo alleged that if current rates of degradation continue, all of the world's topsoil could be gone within 60 years.

"[7] At the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, she spoke about the crucial role agriculture can play in addressing climate change as well as poverty and hunger.