Barbara is a highly motivated and experienced agricultural research, innovation and development specialist. Her main areas of expertise are the design, improvement and evaluation of research and development initiatives for sustainable smallholder farming systems. She has worked with and advised government agencies, research organisations, civil society organisations and donors working in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, including the WFP, FAO, CGIAR, FARA, ASARECA and EIARD. Recent work includes a lesson learning study on the “Hill Approach” of Mercy Corps in Eastern DRC and leading a major UKRI funded research project on land use trade-offs in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the drivers and impacts of agricultural expansion, including impacts on biodiversity and rural livelihoods. She also worked with African and European partners to assess the role of small farms and small food businesses for food and nutrition security.
She is particularly interested in working on and supporting initiatives that focus on capacity development in the global South and that take a longer-term perspective of development, with an emphasis on environmental and social sustainability.
Barbara is a Senior Associate of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), after 10 years as a Principal Researcher in IIED. Before that, she worked as a senior consultant for Triple Line Consulting in London, and as a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Institute in Chatham (UK), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad (India), and the University of Hohenheim (Germany).
CV
Initially trained in agronomy and remote sensing, I acquired over 30 years experience in the interpretation and use of environmental information (inc. remote sensing and GIS) and its integration into the local context for improving decision-making.
A Natural Resource Management Specialist and project manager with over 30 years international experience in natural resource and collaborative community projects. He has focused on: agri-business, organisational change, partnership development and evaluations. Hugh demonstrates individual initiative, sensitive negotiation skills, leadership, excellent communication and international languages. He is a specialist in PA methods including: participatory monitoring and evaluation, community empowerment and participatory planning (PRA), community-based natural resource management, agri-business, team building and training. He designs and is experienced in senior level multi media presentations and electronic material preparation. Currently based in Kenya.
Nienke is a Geographic Information Systems specialist with over 16 years experience of applying GIS to environmental, land and water management. She has worked on a diverse range of projects both in the private and public sector, involving (geo) database development, spatial analyses, web-mapping, map production and GIS support and training.