Anniek Elemans

YEP period 2015 - 2017, batch 5

Young Expert at Alterra - Ethiopia

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First position after YEP

Agribusiness advisor, Resilience Ethiopia

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YEP Role

I worked as a junior researcher at Alterra, a knowledge institute in the field of green living environment. Alterra  performs research across many disciplines targeted at food security, green climate solutions, green economic growth and green cities. In Ethiopia I was working on developing climate smart land and water management options for smallholder farmers in order to sustainably increase their agricultural production.
Click here for more information about my project.

 

Skills

In the course of my studies I have become passionate about sustainable agriculture and supply chains. During my fieldwork abroad and my internship at The Sustainability Consortium I came to realize that taking an systems approach is essential in effectively addressing sustainability issues. Therefore I am eager to further develop these skills and knowledge during my work on climate smart agriculture in Ethiopia.

In addition, I would describe myself as an open, integer, and independent person who likes to get to know new people and to find out what motivates them in life. I enjoy working in a team and looking at how the various qualities of the team members can complement each other in attaining our goals.

 

Background

Nationality: Dutch
Education:

• Climate-KIC Master Program (2014)
• Master Climate Studies, specialization in Environmental Systems Analysis (Wageningen University, 2015)
• Bachelor International Land and Water Management (Wageningen University, 2012)

Experience before YEP

• Mar-June 2015: Teaching assistant at a Bachelor course on international land and water management focused on the Rau River Basin in Northern Tanzania.
• Oct 2014-Feb 2015: Master internship at The Sustainability Consortium. The Sustainability Consortium is a global organization dedicated to improving the sustainability of consumer products. Members are manufacturers, retailers, service providers, NGOs, civil society organizations, governmental agencies and academics. I worked on a sustainability performance assessment of agricultural products on a supply chain level in a pilot with the Dutch retailer Ahold.
• Nov 2013-Sept 2014: Master thesis at the CGIAR World Potato Institute in Peru on the vulnerability of farming systems in the Andes to climate change. The thesis consisted of several weeks of fieldwork during which I visited and interviewed some 70 farmers and organizations about how they deal with the changing climate.
• Sept 2012-Nov 2014: Climate KIC MSc program of the European Institute for Technology, including a summer school on climate change, innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Feb-May 2011: Research internship at the Green Water Credits Program in Kenya. Green Water Credits is a type of Payments for Environmental Services whereby upstream farmers are compensated for their investments in soil and water conservation by downstream beneficiaries. During this internship I evaluated the roles of several governmental and non-governmental organizations and companies in the integrated land and water management of the Upper Tana Basin in Kenya.