Bert Meertens Email & Phone Number

Doorwerth, Gelderland, Netherlands

Yaoundé

Coördinator of Cocoa, Potatoes and Poultry Value Chains in the Green Innovation Center of Cameroon at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Cotonou

Head of Station at Cotonou, Benin, for AfricaRice.

Cotonou, Benin

Coordinator for a GIZ funded project in Benin which involves young professionals in giving advice to rice value chain actors on rice mechanization and post-harvest technologies. Coordinator for the USAID funded Seed Scaling TA Projects in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Senegal. The overall aim of these projects is to increase the use of improved rice varieties by the rice farming households in these countries. Since March 2017 Head of Benin Station for AfricaRice.

Rokupr, Sierra Leone

Providing technical assistance in rebuilding the national rice research programs of Sierra Leone. Mentor young scientists and technical staff of the Rokupr Agricultural Research Centre. Facilitating the capacity building of rice researchers and extensionists in Sierra Leone. All these activities were done in the framework of the World Bank funded WAAPP project in Sierra Leone.Country representative of AfricaRice in Sierra Leone. Since beginning of August 2014 relocated to temporary headquarters of AfricaRice at Cotonou, Benin, due to ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Tanzania And Uganda

Responsible for the design, implementation, and analysis of the agronomic aspects of a large-scale rice smallholder producer survey in Tanzania and Uganda as part of the Rice Sector Research Initiative of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation in collaboration with Kilimo Trust.

Kenya And Mozambique

Mid-Term Evaluation of the CFC/ICAC project “Improving cotton production efficiency in small-scale farming systems in East Africa (Kenya and Mozambique) through better vertical integration of the supply chain”.

Wageningen, The Netherlands

Action-research capacity building of researchers and extensionists of the Farmers Field School Centre of Excellence in Fayoum, Egypt.

Wageningen,The Netherlands

Writing of manual on lowland rice production in tropical Africa for the Agromisa Foundation based at Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Sierra Leone

Review of the rice sector in Sierra Leone and agronomic contribution to the pre-feasibility study of commercial large-scale rice farming in Sierra Leone.

Tanzania

Short-term consultancy to review the agronomic aspects of the large-scale irrigated Kapunga Limited rice farm in southern Tanzania.

Tanzania

Agronomic review of large-scale rice/soya bean farm plans and operations in Tanzania. Analysis of the collected information will be used for the identification and evaluation of a suitable rice–bean/pulse/oil seed double cropping system.

Guyana And Suriname

In the EU funded project “Support to the Competitiveness of the Rice Sector of the Caribbean” I was responsible for the review and reorganization of the research and extension systems in the rice sectors of Guyana and Suriname.

Tanzania

In the joint IFAD/FAO/World Bank/Irish Aid/Government of Tanzania team that executed a formulation mission for a new programme concerning agricultural services (extension, research) in Tanzania, I was responsible for the farmer empowerment and training aspects.

Togo

Detached at IFDC-A in Togo. Guiding participatory research-extension on integrated soil fertility management in an irrigated rice scheme with farmers, farmers’ organisations, NGO’s and GO’s. Identifying opportunities and constraints of the irrigated rice scheme. Facilitating collaboration between different intervening organisations (e.g. through platform building).

Mwanza, Tanzania

Management and coordination of a large number of on-farm fertilizer demonstrations in rice and maize, and on-farm plant nutrition management research in rice, cotton, maize and cassava/maize. Setting up and evaluation of Rapid Rural Appraisal. Monitoring agricultural inputs information. Coaching of extension workers and small-scale private input suppliers. Project management of the Kilimo/FAO Plant Nutrition Programme in the Mwanza and Kagera regions.

Maswa, Tanzania

Management and coordination of on-farm trials in rice, maize and cotton. Participation in Rapid Rural Appraisals. Setting up, monitoring and evaluation of household surveys for rice/cotton growers. Supervising studies on sweet potatoes and the position of women in agriculture. Coaching of extension workers in the Maswa and Meatu districts of Tanzania.

Phd, Communication And Innovation Studies And Plant Science

Ph.D. Thesis: Rice cultivation in the farming systems of Sukumaland, Tanzania. A quest for sustainable production under structural.

Msc, Tropical Crops Science