Salome Boyd

YEP period 2019 - 2021, batch 18

Young Expert at Wageningen University & Research - Ivory Coast

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First position after YEP

Consultant at CDI Wageningen, Netherlands

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YEP Role

As a Young Expert, I am working on the HortiFresh program in Côte d’Ivoire. Using a demand-driven approach, HortiFresh aims to establish a more innovative, inclusive, sustainable and (internationally) competitive fruit and vegetable sector in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. In my capacity as a Young Expert, I focus on the following agro-economic activities:

• Support and follow-up on companies that have received co-financed innovation grants
• Support mango actors in cluster activities (i.e. value chain and market access development), addressing common issues raised by cluster actors themselves
• Liaise and facilitate capacity building activities (i.e. demonstration plots for phytosanitary products, financial literacy training)
• Link stakeholders and establish stronger business-to-business relationships
• Advise and support companies in accessing finance
• Liaise and support in data collection and analysis for M&E
• Organise Business Platforms, Roundtables, Trade Missions and fairs

Skills

• Project management
• Facilitating interactive processes
• Advocacy and grassroots lobbying
• Analytical skills and critical evaluation
• Research and data analysis
• English, Dutch and French

Background

Nationality: Dutch/American
Education: 

• MSc Public Administration: Economics and Governance at Leiden University
• BSc Regional Development and Innovation at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences
• Minor in Development and Policies in a Globalizing World at Wageningen University & Research 

Experience before YEP

• Courses, projects and events support at Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands
• Educational Assistant for MSc programs Management of Development (MOD) and Agricultural Production Chain Management (APCM) at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences in Velp, The Netherlands
• Intern liaising with the Publish What You Pay coalition in advocacy for resource revenue transparency legislation, on behalf of the PCUSA Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., USA
• Intern for Youth and Governance and Sports for Peace programs at the Society for Awareness, Harmony and Equal Rights in Mumbai, India
• Intern for the Credit Against Poverty program at Réseau de Lutte contre la Faim in Yaoundé, Cameroon