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Participants:

Erik Mathijs
Professor
University of Leuven
erik.mathijs@ees.kuleuven.be
Erik Mathijs is Professor of Agricultural Economics at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Leuven, Belgium. His research focuses on innovation processes and more particularly on how to enable the transition towards a sustainable agricultural and food system. He graduated from the University of Leuven with a degree in Agricultural Sciences in 1991. He then obtained a degree in Economics in 1995 and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the same university in 1998. After obtaining his PhD and three years of post-doctoral research, Erik was appointed lecturer at the Division of Agricultural and Food Economics of Leuven University in 2001. From 2002 to 2006, he was vice-coordinator of the Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, a joint research initiative between Ghent and Leuven University to support Flemish policymakers. Erik was appointed professor in 2006. Recently, he co-initiated a multi-actor transition network that aims to build a vision for the Flemish agrifood system and set out different transition paths to reach that vision.He has been rapporteur to the Third Foresight Exercise of SCAR, the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research. Hobbies include gardening and chess.
 
Fabien Boulier
Senior Officer
Agropolis International
boulier@agropolis.fr
Education: former student at "Ecole Normale Supérieure" Paris  - MSc in Ecology, Univ. Paris XI  -  'Ingénieur' degree (MSc equivalent) in Agricultural Sciences, specialized in tropical agriculture, Montpellier SupAgro. Professional experience: fellow researcher in Cirad, Montpellier (1987-88); fellow researcher, Inra, Montpellier (1988-93); Agropolis International, Montpellier (1994-today): International relationship and cooperation, Networking of Scientific Institutions and networks management at international level including Executive Secretary of the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development; EFARD (2001-2004): Coordination and animation of scientific teams and projects / research planning, Conception, elaboration and management of training programmes. Hobbies: travels, aircraft private pilot.
 
Gine Zwart
Policy Advisor
OxfamNovib
gine.zwart@oxfamnovib.nl
Gine Zwart, senior policy advisor sustainable livelihoods at Oxfam Novib in the Netherlands. In that position she is responsible for the policy of Oxfam Novib on agriculture and rural development to guide their intervention strategies. Within the wider Oxfam family ms Zwart plays a key role in guiding and supporting research on issues around food justice.    Gine Zwart graduated cum laude the Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands in 1983. From 1984 – 1997 ms Zwart worked in Africa; Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe on rural development projects, mostly for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.     In 1997 she was employed by Oxfam Novib to develop the microfinance strategies and set-up the microfinance portfolio in East and Southern Africa. After working more with the private sector and coordinating the Corporate Social Responsibility team for some time, she moved to the current position in 2008.    Ms Zwart is married and has two children.
 
Jasper van Vliet
Postdoctoral Researcher
Amsterdam Global Change Institute (AGCI) and Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam
jasper.van.vliet@vu.nl
I have been employed at the Amsterdam Global Change Institute and the Institute for Environmental Studies at the VU University Amsterdam since January 2012. In my research I try to understand land use change and land use change processes in general, and agricultural land use changes in Europe in particular. For this I employ a range of research activities, including spatial modeling and meta-analysis. Previously I worked as a researcher and consultant for the Research Institute for Knowledge Systems, where he developed and applied land-use change models for studies ranging from provinces to EU-27 and focusing on urban as well as agricultural land uses. These models have been used in scientific studies as well as for policy support. Consequently he worked in a number of interdisciplinary projects, including three research projects within the 6th framework program of the EU (LUMOCAP, DeSurvey and PLUREL). By education I am a geographer, as I have an Agricultural Engineering degree and a Master’s degree in Geo-Information Science. I hope to defend my PhD on the calibration and validation of land-use change models in late 2012. When I am not working you might find me travelling, running, skiing, cycling, reading, or simply hanging out with friends.

 
Joost Vervoort
Scenarios Officer
University of Oxford
joost.vervoort@eci.ox.ac.uk
Joost Vervoort has taken up the position of Scenarios Officer for the CGIAR Core Research Programme 7, CCAFS (Climate Change And Food Security), at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Joost holds a PhD in Production Ecology and Resources Conservation from Wageningen University. He holds a MSc. in Natural Resources Management from Utrecht University.    For CCAFS, Joost is organizing multi-stakeholder workshops to develop scenarios of how key socio-economic uncertainties at the sub-continental level interact with future climate change effects. These scenarios are developed for the current CCAFS regions East Africa, West Africa and South Asia. Quantification of the multi-stakeholder scenarios is underway in collaboration with IFPRI and IIASA. The scenarios will be used with key regional actors in strategic planning and visioning workshops and disseminated to larger audiences through collaboration with the global PANOS network of development journalism.    An ecologist by training with backgrounds in system dynamic and spatial modeling, Joost has moved towards interdisciplinary, participatory work on social-ecological systems analysis. Through his research in Wageningen, he has developed and explored a range of new communication strategies and tools aimed at facilitating shared understanding of and engagement with the futures of interacting social and ecological systems.
Foresight study: Regional scenarios for CGIAR CRP 7: Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
 
Lance O'Brien
Foresight & Strategy Manager
TEAGASC-The Agriculture & Food Development Authority
lance.obrien@teagasc.ie
Lance graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1974 with First Class Honours BA and MA degrees. He subsequently completed PhD (1987) and MBA (1991) degrees, also in University College Dublin. He joined Teagasc (The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) from the Irish Ministry of Finance in 1980, having previously worked as a researcher in the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).     Since joining Teagasc, Lance has worked in the areas corporate and strategic planning, programme and project planning, foresight development and research management. He was Project Manager for the major Teagasc Foresight exercise – Teagasc 2030- published in 2008. Lance has contributed widely to national research policy initiatives in Ireland and to the development of various Irish agricultural and food policy developments. He was a member of the Third EU SCAR (Standing Committee on Agricultural Research) Foresight Expert Group and has contributed foresight expertise to the preliminary work on the development of a Science Agenda for African Agriculture. My interests are in cinema, theatre, music and reading
 
Lulama Ndibongo Traub
Food prices and trade analyst
Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP)
ndibong2@gmail.com
Personal and Professional Objective: To advise policy makers and officials on agricultural development, improved market access and trade policy. Education:  Doctorate of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics: Pending  University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa    Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics: 08/99 – 12/02  Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.    Bachelor of Arts in Economics: 08/92 – 05/96  Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Virginia. Work Experience: Supply Chain Analyst: 01/07 – present  Bureau for Food & Agricultural Policy (BFAP), Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Stellenbosch       •Field of specialization includes agricultural commodity markets and trade analysis       •Involved in the monitoring of food prices       •Development of regional maize value-chain for southern Africa    Visiting Research Specialist:  01/04-01/06  Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI      •Designed and implemented a six-month survey research case study in the Republic of South Africa      •Co-Authored MSU International Development Working Papers      •Presented findings to regional network of policy makers in Pretoria, South Africa. Hobbies:  Reading
 
Marc Barzman
Research Engineer
INRA
Marco.Barzman@grignon.inra.fr
Marco Barzman is Research Engineer at the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique at Grignon, France. Marco received a B.Sc. in Biology from UCLA and a Ph.D in Entomology from UC Berkeley and has professional experience in California, Ireland, France, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Bangladesh. Since 2007, Marco has been devoting his time to building the European network ENDURE www.endure-network.eu , an initiative providing support to European research and extension on crop protection for the development of management strategies less reliant on pesticides.  Hobbies include reading, writing, nature gazing, pottery and table tennis.
 
Mario Herrero
Program Leader - Sustainable Livestock Futures
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
m.herrero@cgiar.org
Mario Herrero is a senior agro-ecological systems analyst with more than 15 years experience working on strategic livestock-livelihoods and the environment research projects in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. He leads ILRI’s Sustainable Livestock Futures Group where he manages over 15 staff and an annual budget of US$4 million. A known team player with an extensive network of partners and donors, he works in the areas of livestock and global change, climate change (impacts, adaptation and mitigation), development of scenarios of livestock and livelihoods futures, multi-scale integrated assessment, sustainable development pathways for livestock systems, ex-ante impact assessment of livestock interventions and investment opportunities, and others. He has experience working at different scales, from the animal and farm level to the regional and global levels. He has coordinated several global integrated assessment projects such as the CGIAR global assessment of food production systems, ecosystems services and human well-being. Additionally, he has contributed to numerous international assessments such as the 2010 World Development Report, the 2007/2008 Human Development Report and the 2007 Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. He has participated in international task forces such as IPCC’s Task Force on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Guidelines and has served in several donor and science advisory committees on livestock and the environment. He has published more than 150 fully refereed papers, book chapters and reports in his areas of expertise and is currently on the editorial board of Agricultural Systems, and a guest editor for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal (PNAS) in the area of livestock, sustainability science and global change. He has also supervised over 60 academic theses on different aspects of animal production systems.
 
Maurits van den Berg
Sr Policy Researcher agriculture
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
maurits.vandenberg@pbl.nl
Maurits van den Berg (1960) is Senior Policy Researcher Agriculture, at PBL the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. With a back-ground in Soil Science and Systems modelling, His main expertise lies in the development and application of approaches and tools to assess current and imaginable land use systems at scales ranging from sub-field level to global level. He earned an MSc degree in Agricultural Sciences from Wageningen University (1986) and a Doctors degree (≈PhD) from Utrecht University (2000). Before coming to PBL in 2009, his professional career encompassed research and lecturing positions in Brazil (Instituto Agronomico de Campinas), Mozambique (Eduardo Mondlande University), South Africa (SA Sugarcane Research Institute and UKZN) and The Netherlands (ISRIC, Wageningen University and RIVM). His hobbies are reading (favorites: Machado de Assis, Dickens) and hiking.
 
Mahfouz Mohammad Waheed H. Abu-Zanat
Professor
University of Jordan
Mahfouz@ju.edu.jo
I graduated from the University of Jordan in 1975 and completed MS from Washington State University in 1985 and PhD from the University of Arizona in 1989. I joined the University of Jordan in 1989 and participated (as project manager/focal expert/technical advisor) in many research and development projects at the national and regional levels such as: Communal Management and Optimization of Mechanized Mico-catchment Water Harvesting for Compacting Desertification in the East Mediterranean Region; Community-managed Optimization of the Management of Scare Water Resources in Central and West Asia and North Africa Project (Water Benchmarks of CWANA); Water Reuse and Environmental Conservation Project (RIAL II); Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands Project (SUMAMAD); Integrated Ecosystem Management in the Jordan Rift Valley Project (JRVT); Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dryland Agrobiodiversity Project in West Asia; Improvement of Agricultural Productivity in Arid and Semi-arid Zones of Jordan (JAZPP); Conservation of Medicinal and Herbal Plants Project (GEF). Besides teaching and research activities, I performed several Environmental Impact Assessment Studies in Jordan. Between 2008-2010, I worked for the United Nations Compensation Council (UNCC) as an Independent Reviewer and developed the Roadmap for Badia Restoration Program in Jordan. In 2010, I have prepared the Strategy and National Workplan of Rangelands in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also I have prepared the document on Regional Study for Assessment and Documentation of Promising Range Plants in the Arab World (AOAD). Between 2005 and 2011, I have conducted several surveys on pastoral animal production systems in arid areas of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
 
Siwa Msangi
Senior Research Fellow
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
s.msangi@cgiar.org
Siwa Msangi is a Senior Research Fellow within the Environment and Production Technology Division and joined IFPRI as a post-doctoral fellow in August 2004. Siwa is a co-leader of IFPRI’s research theme on Global Food and Natural Resources, and has worked closely on the global modeling work done with the IMPACT model, which focuses on the major socio-economic and bio-physical drivers affecting agricultural production and trade, and their impacts on nutrition, poverty and the environment. Siwa has a research background in natural resource management, with a focus on surface and groundwater policy, and has also been working on the economics of biofuels and the interactions between energy and agriculture. A Tanzanian national, Siwa has also studied Agricultural Economics at the University of California at Davis, International Development Policy at the Food Policy Research Institute at Stanford University, where he also received an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. Siwa's hobbies include singing choral music of the Renaissance period, film, literature and running.
 
Tanja Hichert
Senior Research Associate
Institute for Futures Research, University of Stellenbosch
Tanja@ifr.sun.ac.za
CEO: Hichert and Associates (Pty) Ltd  Senior Research Associate: Institute for Futures Research, University of Stellenbosch  Director: South African Node of the Millennium Project  Member: Association for Professional Futurists    Tanja Hichert is a South African futurist with specialised skills in scenario planning, facilitating strategic conversations and scanning. Her consultancy supplies strategy futures services to South African and international clients in a wide range of industries including FMCG, media, insurance, mining and utilities. She has developed particular techniques and expertise in applying scenario planning to risk management and also trains risk managers in this regard. Her public sector work, in association with the SA Institute for International Affairs, includes projects on sub-Saharan trade agreement futures and Southern African agricultural futures.   In addition to managing Hichert & Associates, Tanja is a senior research associate at the University of Stellenbosch’s Institute for Futures Research (IFR). In this capacity she delivers environmental scanning/future trends presentations to public and private sector members of the institute; authors chapters on human development, environmental futures and sustainable development for the annual ‘Business Futures’ publication;  produces a bi-monthly ‘Sustainability Watch’ scan; and writes a series of ‘Corporate Strategy Insights’ dealing with the greening of business, the future of management, innovations for a sustainable economy and systemic risk management. Tanja also lectures to MBA and M.Phil (Future Studies) students and conducts workshops and scenario planning training courses for public and private sector members of the institute.   Tanja serves as a director of the South African node of the Millennium Project (a global participatory futures research think tank) and helped organise the first African Futures Conference which brought together futurists, scholars, business planners, and policy makers from all over the continent. In this capacity she was a founding member of the Foresight for Development network http://www.foresightfordevelopment.org/  which promotes the use of foresight for Africa’s future. Tanja also produces a monthly horizon scanning publication as  an African partner of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Searchlight Project which deals with the future of equitable growth, human development and resilient systems.       EDUCATION  BA (Political Science, Philosophy, Economics), University of Stellenbosch  BA Hons (Political Science), University of Stellenbosch  MBA, University of Stellenbosch   Additional MBA elective: Business Strategy for China  M.Phil (Future Studies) cum laude, University of Stellenbosch.
 
Tévécia RONZON
Independent researcher
teveciar@yahoo.fr
I am a French agronomist researcher with a master degree in Agricultural Development from Agroparistech (French high school for Agriculture). After some working experience as an agricultural development officer both in France and Guatemala, I have been involved in the evaluation of public support programs in Mexico. Then, I specialised myself in foresight thinking and scenario building in issues such as global food security and sustainability of farming and food systems when working for many years at the INRA (French National Institute for Agriculture and Research) unit of foresight studies. I was especially in charge of the scenario analysis of the Agrimonde project on food and farming systems by 2050. In addition, I have conducted various workshops on climate change and sustainable food in other foresight projects. I am now working as an independent researcher on these same topics. As such, I have recently performed a review study on “Forward looking activities on Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and the Bio-economy” for the European Commission (DG-RTD).
 
Uzo Mokwunye
Independent Consultant
papauzom@gmail.com
After BS and MS degrees at The Ohio State University (1963-1966) received a PhD degree in Soil Science and Analytical Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1972. Was Professor and Head of Dept of Soil Science at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Worked at the International Fertilizer Development Center (1980-1996) and co-established the Africa Division in Lome Togo in 1987. Left IFDC in 1996 to become the Director of the UN University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA). Retired in 2004 and became an independent consultant.  Have worked on various Africa-related problems including reviewing the research and development issues for sub-Saharan Africa for GCARD1 in Montpellier. Served as consultant to various organizations including the World Bank, the GFAR, FARA and CORAF/WECAD. Was part of the team that evaluated the programs and management of both CORAF/WECARD and FARA during 2011  Golf is my main hobby at the moment.
 
Vincent Requillart
Director of Research
INRA
vincent.requillart@toulouse.inra.fr
53 years old, married, 2 daughters (21, 18)    Education: Agronomy (Ingenior), Economics (PhD)    I am agricultural economist, I work at INRA since 1980 and I develop mathematical models applied to the food sector. I have worked on different issues. In particular, my research topics include : the economics of biofuels (in the 80's after my thesis), agricultural policy (sugar policy and dairy policy in the EU in particular), Industrial organization applied to the food chain (differentiated products such as PDO, relationship between firms and retailers, ..). More recently I have worked on the analysis of food policies for better health (linking economic models and epidemiological models to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternative policies to favour fruit and vegetable consumption). I am now working on the 'OCAD' project (Offrir et Consommer une Alimentation Durable = Supply and Consume Durable Food) and I am involved in the EU project TRANSFOP (Transparency of Food Prices).    I was responsible of the agricultural economics Unit of INRA Toulouse from 1996 to 2006     I practice a lot of mountain sports depending on the season!
 

Facilitators:

 
Robin Bourgeois
Senior Foresight and Development Policies Expert
GFAR
Robin.Bourgeois@fao.org
Robin, who was born in Paris, has an Engineer Degree in Agronomy and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Montpellier.
Robin worked at ISNAR in the Netherlands; at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) in Costa Rica; and at CIRAD as an economist. Robin was then seconded to the UNESCAP-Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture (CAPSA, ex-CGPRT Centre). In 2007, Robin returned to CIRAD, in Montpellier, where he continued his research on inequalities and constitutional change in rural areas, focusing on foresight as a triggering mechanism. He participated as a Lecturer to M.SC programs in Development Economics and co-supervised Ph.D. students in Thailand, Indonesia, Haiti, and Burkina Faso. In 2009, Robin started a comprehensive and participatory applied-foresight research on the future role and place of agriculture and the rural world in Mayotte, leading to the elaboration of nine scenarios. This work is still on-going, under the responsibility of his locally-trained colleagues.
In the GFAR Secretariat, Robin now has specific responsibility for strengthening GFAR’s role in foresight and for providing an open and multi-stakeholder space for dialogue and action on the future of agricultural research.  Robin will also focus on the links between Science and Society, especially the links between research and development policies.  These are key needs in addressing the GCARD Roadmap and GFAR programme of work.  We look forward to the valuable contribution he will make in this regard for all involved in GFAR.
 
Javier Ekboir
Coordinator of the Institutional Learning and Change Initiative (ILAC)
Bioversity International
J.Ekboir@cgiar.org
His experience includes innovation systems, research and innovation policies, the dynamics of agriculture, agricultural policies, development and capacity building in Latin America, South Asia and Africa. Dr Ekboir’s main research areas are the joint dynamics of globalization, innovation, technical change and poverty. Over his career, he has worked extensively with governments, civil society organizations, multilateral institutions and international donors in research based consultancies (including the evaluation of science and technology programs) and action research programs. Dr Ekboir holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis.
 
Cristina Sette
Knowledge Sharing and Learning Specialist
ILAC, Bioversity International
c.sette@cgiar.org
Over 15 years experience in the national and international agricultural research sector,  including the areas of development and rural extension in Brazil; capacity strengthening and learning at the former ISNAR and IFPRI; knowledge sharing methodologies; facilitation of participatory decision making; monitoring and evaluation and communication. Cristina received an MSc in Extension for Natural Resource based Livelihoods from the University of Reading in UK and a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from University of Sao Paulo (ESALQ) in Brazil. Cris enjoys outdoors life, watching sports and reading (i.e. John Grisham, Bill Brison)

Gerard Baltissen, MSc is a Senior Adviser and Trainer in rural decentralization and local governance processes, community driven development, natural resources management and agricultural research and extension.  Mr Baltissen has worked for KIT since 1994. From 1994 to 2000 he was employed on agricultural research and extension projects in Benin and Kenya. In 2001, he returned to KIT in Amsterdam to backstop rural development and decentralization projects and conduct short-term consultancies in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America for numerous donors and NGOs, including the World Bank, the European Union, CORDAID, ICCO, VNG, IKV Pax Christi and SNV. An experienced trainer, workshop and writeshop facilitator, he advises project staff on participatory and multi-stakeholder approaches to development at local, regional and national levels. g.baltissen@kit.nl

Mariana Wongtschowski is a Brazilian Agronomist, with an MSc in Agricultural Knowledge Systems from the Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Mariana worked as a policy officer for the Department of Environment and Water of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands (DGIS), and as a programme manager at the ETC. She is currently working for the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), where she strengthens the organization’s work on agricultural innovation and market oriented advisory services. Mariana has been involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of a large number of multi-stakeholder processes/programmes from the position of researcher, NGO staff and policy advisor. This gives her a unique ’advantage point’ from where to support, facilitate and manage programmes in her thematic area of expertise. M.Wongtschowski@kit.nl
 

Editor

Brett Shapiro is a writer and journalist. For the past 17 years, he has written and edited numerous technical, policy, advocacy and general audience publications for more than a dozen United Nations agencies. He co-authored “Nourishing the Land, Nourishing the People”, a book about a successful rural development initiative in Madagascar that was published in French (Harmattan) and then in English (Capi). He also provides specialized training in writing to UN staff at the United Nations System Staff College in Turin, in headquarters offices and in the field, as well as to diplomats at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, he is a visiting professor at the Universita di Siena and is the author of the best-selling “L'Intruso”, a memoir published in Italy (Feltrinelli) and subsequently a film and theatrical production. brettjshapiro@gmail.com
 

Administrative support

 
Vanessa Alam
Program Assistant
ILAC, Bioversity International
v.alam@cgiar.org
Vanessa joined the ILAC team in March 2012 from Bioversity International (part of the CGIAR) where she was the Assistant to the Regional Director for Europe for several years.  Prior to this, Vanessa spent most of her career as an Executive Assistant working in a variety of fields, such as marketing, the Law and food production, and has experience of working in capacity building and knowledge management.  She is a UK national and holds diplomas in both English Language and English Literature, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Administrative Management.  Vanessa’s varied interests include wildlife, travelling, horse riding and the performing arts.
 

General Assistance

Cédric Egal
Intern
Bioversity International
c.egal@cgiar.org
Cedric has recently joined the Institutional Learning and Change Initiative (ILAC) as an Intern. Its major task was to provide support to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and to ILAC by analyzing the Foresight studies selected as part of the Inventory. He previously realized a six-month Internship with the Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI), a French think-tank. During this internship he was in charge of a study on the kind of support and agriculture needed to ensure a truly sustainable food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a former student of Paris 1 University (Panthéon-Sorbonne) where he pursued a Bachelor degree in Political Science and a Master in “International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Development Policies”.