Agriculture and Rural Development
The global challenges of overcoming extreme poverty and feeding more than 9 billion people by 2050 will be high on the international development agenda for many years to come. Sustainably managing agricultural land, forests and other natural resources is an important element of addressing these challenges. The Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) Division enables us to provide our clients services with solutions across the entire landscape by building on our long-term experience in forestry, land use and climate change. ARD offers both analytical work and advisory services on the one hand and implementation of technical assistance and investment programs on the other. The division covers the following major topics:
- sustainable intensification of agricultural production (including crop, livestock and integrated production systems);
- development of inclusive and sustainable business models, innovation systems, and value chains;
- climate smart land use including land-sparing and deforestation free commodity sourcing;
- participatory and community based forest management;
- community based development in rural areas; and
- land use planning and regional rural development.
Our Services
Analytical and advisory work
- Economic and financial analyses of agricultural investments and projects
- Value chain analysis
- Public expenditure reviews
- Capacity development and technical assistance
- Development of sustainable business models
- Policy advice (national and international levels) and strategy development
Project cycle service
- Feasibility studies and development of investment proposals
- Development of project concepts and design
- Monitoring, evaluation and impact assessments
Project implementation
- Management of agriculture, forestry and rural development projects (for both technical and financial cooperation)
- Provision of technical expertise (short and long term) during project implementation
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Paul Borsy
MSc Forest Management
Senior Consultant in the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Paul Borsy develops, evaluates and manages short and long term projects in the areas of resource management and biodiversity, climate change, agriculture and renewable energy. He has extensive expert knowledge in rural development project design, implementation and evaluation. Paul Borsy was responsible for the implementation of GIZ and KfW supported long-term projects and has spent more than 23 years in Africa, South America and Asia.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 30
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Simon Charré
MSc Agricultural Development and Economic Policies
Project Leader Community-based walnut-fruit forests and pasture management in South Kyrgyzstan
Simon Charré has worked for more than five years in projects with a thematic focus on natural resources management, specifically on montane forests and pasture resources. He has broad experiences in the topics of strengthening the cooperation between public authorities, local NGOs and international organizations. Simon Charré was also involved in projects in cooperation with the Central Asia Regional Environmental Center (CAREC) and the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). He has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 2010.
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Suzanne van Dijk
MSc Animal Sciences
Division Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Divison
Suzanne van Dijk has been working on innovation and sustainability in the agricultural sector for five years. She works on climate-smart agriculture, dairy production systems and smallholder inclusive value chain development. Furthermore, she studies the potential impact of climate change and develops practical solutions for farmers. Suzanne van Dijk has intensive experience in Europe, East Africa and Latin America.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 39
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Gommert Mes
M.Sc. Agriculture at Wageningen/ Postgraduate on development-oriented research in agriculture
Senior Consultant in the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Mr. Gommert Mes has extensive experience leading international programs, mainly for KfW. Since 1993 he is leading long-term assignments of projects of financial cooperation for rural development and numerous short-term missions for technical & financial feasibility, implementation monitoring and impact evaluation. Mr. Mes has working experience in Europe and Latin America. He lived more than 20 years in Colombia and Costa Rica.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 49
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Gero Pawlowski
MSc Tropical Forestry and Natural Resource Management
Senior Consultant in the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Gero Pawlowski has worked in the context of international forestry and resource conservation projects for over 13 years. He is responsible for major project acquisitions for UNIQUE’s technical divisions and coordinates the activities of on-going projects. On behalf of GIZ, KfW, DED, AfDB and the EU, Gero Pawlowski spent six years abroad in Bolivia as a long-term expert.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 31
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Anke Reichhuber
Dr. sc. Pol., Economist
Senior Consultant at the Division of Agriculture and Rural Development
Ms. Reich Huber worked as an Agricultural Economist for the World Bank for 5 years and spent additional 5 years consulting the German Development Cooperation. She has extensive experience in the development and implementation of investment projects and conducts cross-cutting analytical work concerning agriculture, natural resource management and climate change. Her regional focus lies in Africa and Asia.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 49
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Rolf-Dieter Sprung
MSc Forestry in the Temperate Zones; MSc Forestry in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics
Project Leader Management of biosphere reserves in Ethiopia
Rolf-Dieter Sprung’s core competencies are in organizational development and capacity building. He has 20 years of international experience and has worked in management positions for many years. As a forester he focuses on municipal and participatory forest management, biodiversity conservation, land use planning and management of protected areas. He can draw on several years of experience in Africa, particularly in Namibia, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon and Ethiopia.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 0
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Renuka Srinivasan
MSc Environmental Governance
Consultant in the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Renuka Srinivasan has a background in environmental governance and development economics. The technical focus of her work is on climate change adaptation across agricultural value chains. She has worked on various projects relating to MRV, REDD+, CRVA and VIA, in the context of promoting participatory methods, boosting private sector investments, and building local/regional development strategies. Ms Srinivasan is involved in projects across India, Southeast Asia and East Africa.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 32
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Jochen Statz
PhD and MSc Forest Management, MSc Development Cooperation
Division Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Jochen Statz focuses on the topics of forest based regional development strategies, national/regional REDD+ readiness preparation and community based forest resource management. He has many years of experience in managing forestry development projects in cooperation with state and non-state actors. Jochen Statz works on projects worldwide. Previously, he was a long-term expert and team leader for the GIZ in Nepal and the KfW in India.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 19
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Miriam Vorlaufer
PhD Agricultural Economics
Consultant in the Agriculture and Rural Development Division
Miriam Vorlaufer works at the interface between agriculture, ecosystem management and climate change. In her work, she focuses on the development of private and public investments in agriculture. She has practical experiences in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 52
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Johannes Wölcke
PhD Agricultural Economics
Director of the Business Development Division
Johannes Wölcke worked as senior economist for the World Bank for 10 years, as well as senior advisor and program manager with the GIZ for 2 years. The focal areas of his work are the development and implementation of complex and innovative investments, technical assistance programs, and analytical work related to agriculture, natural resource management and climate change. He has more than 15 years’ practical working experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Tel. +49 761 208 534 56
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Associate Experts
- Maria Iskandarani
- Charles Odhong
- Pieter Pietrowicz (Kenya)
- Andreas Wilkes