Catherine Mackenzie

Catherine is a multi-disciplinary development specialist, with degrees in social anthropology, forestry and zoology. She has over 35 years’ experience in rural development and natural resources management, particularly the social dimensions of forestry, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The “development industry” threatens to turn Catherine into a grumpy old woman.  She has an aversion to quick fixes and box-tickers, and a specialty in telling people, especially managers, things they don’t want to hear.   But she remains highly committed to objectives of sustainable development and still seeks to inform and inspire her analysis through evidence from real field work, especially talking to people.  Her talents are best used in participatory and innovative planning and problem solving.  Some people do like working with her!

Her last major assignment before COVID-19 was with the EU’s Value Chain Analysis for Development https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/value-chain-analysis-for-development-vca4d. (VCA4D) study of palm oil in Indonesia.  As the sociologist on the team, she was responsible for examining issues of social sustainability (labour, land, gender, food and nutrition, living conditions and social capital), as well as contributing to stakeholder, governance and inclusivity analyses.  The study, which also examines economic and environmental sustainability,  aimed to help create a shared understanding between the EU and Indonesia on critical palm oil issues.

She also participated in the development of management plans for mangrove forest reserves in Guyana, under EU funding.

Since COVID, her only work has been with the UK’s Darwin Initiative, conducting a home-based mid-term review of a conservation project in Guinea Bissau, which included ecological and community-oriented interventions related to the recent discovery of leprosy in chimpanzees.

Prior to this, Catherine was involved on a part-time basis on two long-term German-funded (KfW) conservation projects in Indonesia:  Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Protection in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem (Aceh, Sumatra) and Forest Programme III in Lore Lindu National Park (Central Sulawesi).

Other recent work has increasingly focused on climate change, including an analysis of the Theory of Change for REDD+ and Norway’s ICFI programme , the “real-time” evaluation of Norway’s ICFI country programme in Indonesia for Norad,  a review of  Social Standards and Safeguards for REDD+ http://www.fcmcglobal.org/documents/Safeguards_Paper.pdf for USAID, preparation of Vietnam’s REDD-Readiness PIN, planning for social dimensions of pioneering REDD+ projects, and backstopping CARE’s community-based adaptation programme in Mozambique.

Her participatory forest management inventory and planning work in Sierra Leone has resulted in the first two forest co-management agreements in that country. She has been involved in biodiversity conservation and protected areas management work for many years and in many countries: Ghana (bushmeat), Mongolia, Tibet, Guyana, Indonesia, Bolivia, Brazil, Tanzania, the Galapagos and the Caribbean. Her work on forest governance and illegal logging in Mozambique is well-known as the first study to document the role of the Chinese in exploiting Africa’s hardwoods.  She has worked on  FLEGT preparation projects for the EU in Indonesia (2003), and in Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa (2012).

In these assignments she applies core competencies in social/poverty/ policy/institutional analysis, conflict resolution, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment, research and teaching. She has experience in all phases of the project management cycle (identification, preparation, appraisal, management, technical advice, monitoring, and evaluation), working with World Bank, ADB, FAO, GEF, EU, DFID, Norad, USAID, DGIS, IUCN, WWF, FFI, SNV, CARE and others. An enthusiastic team worker and effective communicator, she has been team leader on several long-term participatory forestry projects and research projects.  She is a skier and scuba-diver, plays tennis, rides motorcycles and bicycles, got her PPL, and speaks very good Indonesian and Portuguese and functional French and Spanish.

Email:  Cathy.Mackenzie@theNRgroup.net

CVMackenzie EU CV 2019 Mackenzie ADB CV Feb 17

Country Experience:   Indonesia (including Sulawesi, Sumatera, Kalimantan (E,W, S), Moluccas, W Papua), Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India (including Sikkim, Kerala, Karnataka), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China (including Tibetan Areas of Qinghai and Sichuan, Guizhou, Hainan, Shanghai), Vietnam, Cambodia,  Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador (incl. Galapagos),  Guyana, Honduras, Belize, Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos, Barbados, St Lucia, Dominican Republic, Haiti.

Availability Catherine is currently UK-based and available for both short and long-term assignments.  

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Mike Holland

Mike-HollandMike has over 30 years experience of long-term assignments and short missions on: project identification and design; and financial, personnel and technical management of large development projects and government departments. He is very much the generalist, with rural development expertise encompassing: social and technical aspects of soil and water conservation; environmental assessment; land-use and natural resource planning; farmer support services; smallholder crop and livestock production; livelihood systems; indigenous peoples’ development; small-scale irrigation; forestry and sawmill management. He is fluent in the Mauritian Creole language and has excellent Spanish


Emailmike.holland @ thenrgroup.net 

CV:  Holland EU CV

Country Experience:  Argentina, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Saint Helena, Slovak Republic, Tanzania, UK

Hugh Gibbon

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.


EmailHugh.Gibbon@theNRgroup.net 

CVGibbon CV

Country Experience:  TBC

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Paul Symonds

Paul Symonds - agriculture, conservation/natural resource management, livestock and rural development

Paul Symonds is a development specialist, primarily in the agriculture, conservation and natural resource management, livestock and rural development sectors. He has worked in a variety of cultures, climates and ecologies on a wide range of successful projects with progressively greater responsibility. For the last 28 years this has mainly been in Africa, helping people and communities improve livelihoods and manage natural resources. Projects and programmes have focused on full participatory analysis of the problems and challenges and developed solutions based on a multilevel response; from the provision of resources and training at the community level to local and regional infrastructure development and local and national policy and legislative review. In all programmes the traditional authority structure has been respected and the wishes of the client state or line ministry have been central. Most recently, he has contributed to the development of the EC resumption of aid to Sudan.

Emailpaul.symonds @ thenrgroup.net

CVPaul Symonds CV

Country Experience:  Cameroon, Ghana, India, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda

Availability:

David Silverside

David Silverside - Senior Meat Technologist

David is a Senior Meat Technologist with over 30 years experience in the development of meat industries in less developed countries. He has experience of undertaking development projects while working alone or in multi-disciplinary teams on both long and short term assignments in UK and overseas. His key skills include: Feasibility studies, project identification, implementation, management and appraisal of the meat production industry in less developed countries; Advice on abattoir and other meat infrastructure design, rehabilitation and management, meat production and marketing, carcase classification and quality control; Training overseas personnel and drafting technical and consultative documents. He has experience in approx 50 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent, the Far East and SE Asia.

Emaildavid.silverside @ thenrgroup.net

CV  – David Silverside CV

Country Experience:  Antigua, Dominica, Bangladesh, Botswana,, British Virgin Islands, Burundi , Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana , Guyana, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montserrat, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis , St Vincent, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Availability:

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Paul Schoen

Paul Schoen

Paul Schoen is seasoned agricultural economist with over 29 years of international experience in development projects.  After undertaking three university degrees (Hull University, London School of Economics (MSc International Relations, Law and Politics) and Wye College (MSc in Agricultural Economics), UK) he undertook various long and short term assignments in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, and other parts of Asia (South, South East, and Far East), all regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and CIS States. He is experienced in monitoring and evaluation (including mid-term, terminal and ex-post evaluations), economic and financial analysis, project identification, project-preparation, and appraisal and cost-benefit analysis. Evaluations have also utilized tools such as multiplier effects (employment generation and gross margin analysis across sectors analysed) and value chain analysis. He conducts studies as well as business planning and SME support.  He has worked mainly on agricultural development programmes and projects including design of sector support initiatives and strategies for agrarian change such as trade, finance and investment options.  In addition, he provides independent project monitoring and evaluation services to a wide range of organisations including development agencies, NGOs, corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and charities. He has also lead a team on developing a portfolio to access climate change funds available worldwide for Nigerian agricultural development. Most of his missions have  been undertaken for UNDP (he worked initially as a Junior Professional Officer when he first started in 1992), EC, FAO, DFID, LuxDev, IFAD, SNV, USAID and USDA, World Bank and numerous private sector corporations and foundations including Agha Khan and ACDI VOCA.

In recent years he has been asked to work on regional SME development (such as for SADC which covered 16 member states), value chain development and strategy formulation.

Other recent work has been supporting the complete overhaul of the Novi Sad Commodity Exchange (NSCOMEX – formerly Produktna Berza)) in Serbia where he is leading a small team of technology, trading and legal specialists) for GIZ and the Government of Serbia (Ministry ion Agriculture). He has also worked in Saudi Arabia in 2018 and 2019 on aquaculture Red Sea development and a global strategy formulation for the National Date Palm Centre.

Emailpaul.schoen @ thenrgroup.net; paul_schoen@yahoo.com 

CV: http://Paul Schoen CV (June 2020) (y).docx

Country Experience: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Liberia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, PNG, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudia Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, the Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia.

Availability: Please enquire.

Hannah Jaenicke

Hannah JaenickeHannah is specialist in agrobiodiversity and related subjects, spanning agroforestry, horticulture, nutrition and health, plant propagation, product marketing and integrated rural development. She is a dynamic programme manager and team leader with nearly 30 years professional experience in Europe, Africa and Asia. After starting as a plant researcher with a doctorate in tree physiology, she focussed on an international career in international development, concentrating on programme management in increasingly responsible positions, e.g. as Deputy Manager of the DFID Forestry Research Programme and the Director of the International Centre for Underutilized Crops/Crops for the Future. Amongst other project, Hannah currently coordinates the German Horticulture Competence Centre, where she manages several interdisciplinary resarch and development Projects.
Hannah integrates academic and development expertise with a focus on alleviating hunger and poverty and improving livelihoods. She spent 10 years living in Africa and five in Asia, has great interest in the training and mentoring of younger people, and provides strategic leadership to R&D partners. She also has a keen eye for communication of research and development results to enhance impact at several levels and is experienced in proposal writing and evaluation as well as commissioning projects. She was the Chair of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (2010-2014)  and the Vice-Chair of the Section Tropical and Subtropical Plants (2014-2018) of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences.

Emailhannah.jaenicke @ thenrgroup.net
CVHannah Jaenicke CV

Country Experience:  Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Availability: for short term and/or desk-based missions
Resources: