Luca Peters
YEP period 2019 - 2021, batch 18
Young Expert at Practica Foundation - Burkina FasoFirst position after YEP
Lismore Region Manager at Southern Cross University Australia
YEP Role
Luca will be working as small scale irrigation expert for PRACTICA Foundation in Burkina Faso. The project is called IRRINN (Intensification of Agricultural Production through the Deployment and Scaling of Innovative and Adapted Irrigation Practices and Technologies) and is an irrigation project funded by the European Union. The project has a research focus with the aim to have a development impact.
The general objective of the IRRINN project is to remove the technical, financial, economic, organisational and institutional constraints that limit the development of small scale irrigation in different productive, social and environmental contexts, with the aim to increase the impact of irrigation development on agricultural productivity and farm incomes; and to help reduce food insecurity and poverty and increase resilience to climate risks. In the project, Luca will support with the coordination and planning of activities for the small scale private irrigation type. He will also conduct capacity building and trainings. Other tasks will involve data analysis, knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation and reporting. More in general, Luca will represent PRACTICA in Ouagadougou and support the coordination of PRACTICA activities in Burkina Faso and the region. He will also provide technical support, conduct on-demand field missions and support with business development and project management activities for PRACTICA.
The IRRINN project is supposed to start in April 2020. Prior to this, Luca will conduct work for PRACTICA in Uganda and Madagascar on both drinking water and irrigation themes.
Skills
Luca is a committed and ambitious young professional with a passion for water, Africa and development. He has more than 3 years of professional experience in international development cooperation with a strong expertise in irrigated agriculture, water management, food security, climate change, water governance, rural development, WASH and disaster risk reduction. He has also a good knowledge of development policies and donor strategies e.g. the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, Dutch development cooperation policy. He has demonstrated experience in proposal writing, project management and the overall project management cycle and is familiar with project budgeting. He gained experience in working for government, private sector, research institutes and international organisations and is a proactive team worker in multicultural settings with strong networking skills.
Background
Nationality: Dutch
Education: Luca holds a Master degree in International Land and Water Management from Wageningen University. Luca also did the bachelor in International Land and Water Management at Wageningen University. Prior to this he went on Erasmus at Bordeaux Sciences Agro in France where he did a specialisation in GIS and also gained his French language skills.
Experience before YEP
2019: PRACTICA Foundation | Papendrecht | Junior Project Engineer
Activities performed:
- Working as expert in the irrigation team with duty station in the Netherlands with missions abroad
- Assist in project execution in the field, including the technical installation and commissioning and/or evaluation of (pilot) irrigation systems including technical monitoring and troubleshooting
- Development of concept notes and project proposals including project budgets
- Consultancy assignments including project progress and evaluation missions
- Developing new and innovative irrigation concepts for smallholder farmers
2017: NIRAS International Consulting | Various locations | Junior Consultant
Activities performed:
- Tender and project management experience mainly in the agriculture (food security, rural development, agribusiness) and water (irrigation, WASH, IWRM) sectors for a variety of different clients (WB, EU, GIZ etc.)
- Consultancy assignment for the Second Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project (ADB) in Cambodia
- Participation in the World Water Week conference in Stockholm and drafting of the NIRAS Water SDG6 brochure
Activities performed:
- Evaluation of the national WASH situation with a focus on primary schools and recommendations for potential UNICEF activities
- WASH and climate change field visit in Zagora province; interviews with local authorities, school staff and children, visit of 5 primary schools in different communes
- Proposal writing for UNICEF activities at COP22
- Participation in Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction mission to address flood risks in Souss Massa et Draa River Basin – Guelmim)
2015: Netherlands Embassy in Rwanda | Kigali | Intern
Activities performed:
- Intern for the Great Lakes Region programme (Burundi, Rwanda, RDC, Uganda)
- Formation of the regional water and food security programme of the Multi Annual Strategic Plan
- Participation in the identification process of the regional water programme with irrigation and rural water supply as main interventions
- Contribution to the development of the monitoring and evaluation framework of the regional programme
- Organisation and co-facilitation of a validation workshop on water issues in the Greater Virunga Transboundary Landscape
- Field visits in Burundi, Rwanda and DRC
