Gemma Betsema

YEP period 2017 - 2018, batch 10

Young Expert at Shared Value Foundation - Kenya

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First position after YEP

Multi-stakeholder officer NL Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Researcher Utrecht University

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YEP Role

Project Lead Learning Platforms for Shared Value Foundation, in close collaboration with LANDac, CIFOR and the Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP). I was responsible for coordination, stakeholder engagement, lobbying and advocacy and research activities in preparation of implementing multi-stakeholder learning platforms on inclusive business, land governance and food security in Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda.

 

The Learning Platforms were set up in investment hubs in the countries and aimed to better link local knowledge and context with multi-stakeholder learning and dialogue, accompanied by follow-up activities for implementation and monitoring. The main aim of the platforms was to optimise local impacts of agro-food investments for food security in the three target countries. 

Click here for more information about my project.

 

Skills

• Land governance
• Inclusive business models
• Multi-stakeholder processes

Background

Nationality: Dutch
Education: MSc International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam

 

Experience before YEP

I have a background in Sociology and International Development Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Areas of interest within international development include rural development, private sector, inclusive business models, responsible investment, land governance, food security and multi-stakeholder approaches.

 

After graduating, I worked for research funding agency WOTRO, and was involved in short-term assignments for the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), the VU University’s Centre for International Cooperation (CIC) and as a consultant on land governance for DGIS at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, I contributed to a CSR Netherlands commissioned study at the Utrecht University into Dutch and European entrepreneurs in the agro-food sector in Kenya. 

 

Before joining the YEP Programme, I was the coordinator of the Netherlands Land Academy (LANDac). Since 2015, I have – within LANDac – been closely involved in the development of a knowledge agenda on land governance and food security, including three country-specific learning trajectories on land governance and food security in Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda. As part of this knowledge agenda, I co-authored the publication ‘Flowers for food? Scoping study on Dutch flower farms, land governance and local food security in Eastern Africa’ and ‘Linking land governance and food security in Africa – Outcomes from Uganda, Ghana & Ethiopia’. The current Learning Platforms are a follow-up to this earlier work. I have work experience in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Tanzania and Uganda.