Credit: 2009CIAT/NeilPalmer

Who we are

Core team

Jacob Van Etten

Jacob is the project lead for 1000FARMS. He launched the original idea behind the tricot approach in 2011 and has led the team that developed this approach since 2012. He has worked on crop diversity and related topics for over 20 years from a broad interdisciplinary perspective, using participatory social science methods, crop experimentation, scientific computation and digital design approaches. He holds a PhD in Agricultural and Social Sciences from Wageningen University (2006).

Visit the 1000FARMS community of practice website to view Jacob’s full profile and connect with members of the 1000FARMS community.

Grecia Benavente

Grecia is the 1000FARMS project manager. She ensures that planning, coordination and communication take place so that activities start on time, have the necessary resources and make efficient use of them. She has over 10 years’ experience in programme management, monitoring and evaluation, communications and quality assessment. She holds a BSc in International Management and Business and is currently finalising an MSc in International Business Engineering. She is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

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Joost van Heerwaarden

Joost leads the variety performance analysis for 1000FARMS. He has a background in crop genomics, quantitative genetics and statistics, with a current research focus on the analysis of on-farm data. Over the past 20 years he has worked on diverse topics involving the analysis of genetic diversity and yield variability, particularly in smallholder production systems. He holds an MSc in Biology and a PhD in Plant Breeding and Statistics from Wageningen University (2007).

Visit the 1000FARMS community of practice website to view Joost’s full profile and connect with members of the 1000FARMS community.

Anna Muller

Anna leads the inform product management activities for 1000FARMS. She makes sure that tricot-informed information products are designed to fit decision-makers’ needs and contexts regarding, for example, product advancement or variety release decisions. She has more than 10 years’ experience leading and managing research projects around innovation adoption, data and decision-making, human-centred design and digital inclusion. Anna has an interdisciplinary background in social sciences and humanities and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Göttingen University (2015).

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Marie-Angélique Laporte

Marie-Angélique leads the architectural design and platform integration for ClimMob at 1000FARMS. She has more than 10 years of experience leveraging FAIR principles and ontology-based solutions to enhance data availability in agriculture. Throughout her career, Marie-Angélique has made significant contributions to the development of various ontologies, metadata schemas, and the application of knowledge graph technologies in agricultural contexts. Marie-Angélique holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Montpellier, where her research centered on establishing data standards for the integration of functional plant trait data.

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Kauê de Sousa

Kauê brings 10 years’ experience in systems design, crop ecology and data science to the 1000FARMS Course, leveraging the ability of NARES and CGIAR breeding programmes to generate insights from high-quality on-farm data. He has been involved in various stages of validating and scaling tricot in Central America, Asia and Africa, from the design of on-farm trials to the development of novel analytical approaches for decision-making using tricot data. Kauê holds a PhD in Applied Ecology and Biotechnology from Inland University (Norway). He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

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Marcia Petraglia

Marcia is a senior administrative project assistant. She supports research projects with procurement, travel, recruitment, meetings and workshops organisation, among other tasks. She has extensive experience in research programme support, ensuring compliance with procedures, policies and donor requirements, and with overall facilitation for project implementation. Marcia holds a BA (Hons) in French and Information Technology from London Metropolitan University (1998).

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Stephen Angudubo

Stephen leads on scoping and establishing multi-crop on-farm trial networks for 1000FARMS. He has worked on projects involving tricot since 2018, participating in integrating the tricot approach with on-farm testing of roots, tubers and cereals. He has over nine years of experience working in action research; economic analysis of technologies, innovations, and management practices; experimental agriculture; programme design, monitoring and evaluation; and gender mainstreaming. He is currently supporting the integration of a crowdsourcing approach with on-farm testing. Stephen holds a master’s degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Makerere University.

Visit the 1000FARMS community of practice website to view Stephen’s full profile and connect with members of the 1000FARMS community.

Béla Teeken

Béla is leading on-farm testing procedures and protocols to ensure quality data collection. He works with farmers, NARS, and national variety release authorities to promote and improve tricot. He has extensive experience in on-farm testing and rural community engagement using a transdisciplinary approach. His work links variety trait preferences to social conditions, gender issues, and measurable biophysical parameters that breeders can use for selection. Béla holds an MSc in Social Anthropology and Crop Science and a PhD in Social Science, all from Wageningen University.

Visit the 1000FARMS community of practice website to view Béla’s full profile and connect with members of the 1000FARMS community.

Team members

Anastasia Safarian

Title: Finance Manager

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Berta Ortiz Crespo

Title: Scientific Officer

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Clare Mugisha Mukankusi

Title: Senior Scientist – Crops for Nutrition and Health

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Daniela Bustos-Korts

Title: Assistant Professor

Organization: Wageningen University

Dean Muungani

Title: Executive Committee Member

Organization: African Plant Breeders Association (APBA)

Eliana Bontti

Title: Vice-Dean for Education

Organization: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Elizabeth Arnaud

Title: Thematic Leader – Digital Inclusion

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Fadhili Salum Kasubiri

Title: Senior Research Associate – Crops for Nutrition and Health

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Fatuma Abdullahi

Title: Analyst – Grants Management

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Hugo De Groote

Title: Principal Scientist – Agricultural Economist

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Hugo Dorado

Title: Senior Research Associate – Digital Inclusion

Organization: Wageningen University & Research

Hyacinthe Nyirahabimana

Title: Projects Research Associate

Organization: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

James Gethi

Title: Maize Seed Systems Specialist

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Jean Claude Rubyogo

Title: Program Leader – Crops for Nutrition and Health

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Jill Cairns

Title: Maize Physiologist

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Julian Ramirez Villegas

Title: Principal Scientist – Climate Action

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Mabel Nabateregga

Title: Researcher

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Mainassara Abdou Zaman-Allah

Title: Maize Abiotic Stress Phenotyping Specialist

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Marie Angelique Laporte

Title: Associate Scientist – Digital Inclusion

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Michael Olsen

Title: Molecular Breeding and Trait Pipeline Coordinator

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Pieter Rutsaert

Title: Scientist – Market and Value Chain Specialist

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Rachel Charlene Voss

Title: Associate Scientist – Gender and Agriculture Researcher

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Rhys Manners

Title: Scientist

Organization: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Svein Øivind Solberg

Title: Research Professor

Organization: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Sylvia Kalemera

Title: Senior Research Associate – Crops for Nutrition and Health

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Teshale Assefa Mamo

Title: Scientist – Crops for Nutrition and Health

Organization: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Tuulikki Rooke

Title: Research Officer

Organization: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Walter Chivasa

Title: Maize Seed Systems Coordinator

Organization: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)