Trustee
I am an independent aid consultant who has spent over 25 years working with international teams to help poor rural and urban people improve the food security, livelihoods and resilience of their communities including during crises. My field experience comes from time spent in over 10 countries in South and Southeast Asia, and 20 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. My personal experience is that even in the face of incredible challenges, life goes on. Personal dignity and self-respect come from enabling disadvantaged people to take the next step. A timeline of some examples of my work includes:
- Participatory action-research supporting small-scale farmers across semi-arid areas of East, West and Southern Africa with the University of Reading (1990-95);
- Leadership of Action Contre la Faim’s international food security programme across 22 countries which focused on supporting communities as they transitioned out of the need for immediate humanitarian assistance and transitioned toward rebuilding and diversifying their livelihoods (1997-2000);
- National and international programme development, fundraising, and monitoring and evaluation support to with Practical Action (previously ITDG) supporting communities to adopt, assess and adapt technologies to ensure they were appropriate to local needs (2000-16), and;
- Independent evaluations of the UN World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation exploring the effectiveness of their support to host nations in Africa, with follow-up assistance to ensure learning is integrated into their national and global strategic plans and programmes (2016-18).