Heleen Verbeek

YEP period 2022 - 2024, batch 25

YEP Role

Role: Agronomist

As an agronomist working for aQysta in Nepal, I work with small-scale farmers and aim to strengthen their knowledge on the cultivation of high-value crops to increase their income. My goal is to strengthen their position in the international food value chain, so that higher prices can be obtained. Working with sustainable cultivation methods and certification schemes is one of the ways this goal can be achieved.

Skills

• Facilitating multi-stakeholder processes
• Sustainable agriculture
• Food systems design and implementation
• Team worker
• Entrepreneurial mindset.

Background

• Nationality: Dutch
• Education:
  • B.Sc. International Development Management. Major Rural Development and Innovation

Experience before YEP

Organic crop growing specialist, working with different horticultural crops in the Netherlands. I have also been part of a start-up designing and implementing perennial forest gardens in public spaces in the Netherlands. In addition, I worked on implementing agroforestry systems together with small-scale farmers in Kenya in 2021.