Vice Chairman, Technical Advisory Committee to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (1971-77)

Vice Chairman, Protein-Calorie Advisory group of United Nations, (1972-77)

Chairman, Committee of the Whole, UN Conference on Desertification, Nairobi (1977)

Chairman, U.N. Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for Development (1980-83)

President, International Federation of Agricultural Research Systems for Development (IFARD) (1976-1983)

President, International Bee Research Association (IBRA) (1978-1990)

Independent Chairman, FAO Council (1981-1985)

Member, Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, Tropical Diseases Research, World Health Organisation (1983-1985)

Chairman, Governing Board, CAB International (1991-94)

Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large of the Cornell University, United States of America (1989-95)

Trustee of the Ford Foundation (1989-97)

Chairman of the Global Hunger Project (1994-2000)

Founder Chairman of the Trustees of the Iwokrama International Centre for the Sustainable Management of Rainforests, Guyana (1992-99)

Member, China International Council for Sustainable Development (1992-2002)

Chairman, Genetic Resources Policy Committee of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (1994-2002)

Founder-Trustee, Biobliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt