David Black Email & Phone Number

Utrecht, Netherlands

Predominantly focused on the development of the Southern African Food Systems Alliance, a business-led collaboration centered on the ambition for 80% of total viable sourcing to be from within the SADC region by 2033, and IDH's work in South Africa.

Utrecht, Netherlands

Strategic and operational support to IDH's Value Chain Transformation business unit across Africa. IDH's VCT approach entails partnering with large-scale, premium buyers that have an established presence in African markets, to develop inclusive and commercially viable supply chains at scale. I have played a leading role in the setup of the following VCT programs in Africa: - IDH's market-led grains program in Ghana, in maize, rice, sorghum, and fonio value chains. - IDH's market-led grains program in Ethiopia, in maize, soya, and sunflower value chains.- Establishing IDH's Southern African Food Systems Alliance, a business-led collaboration centered on the ambition for food companies to source 80% of total viable sourcing from within the SADC region by 2033, and through this, to drive the social & environmental transformation of Southern African food value chains. Establishing these programs has entailed coordinating in-depth value chain analyses, business diagnostic analyses, and inclusive supply chain analyses. In addition to the above, I also played a leading role in the development of IDH's Africa Food Systems Transformation Strategy (relevant to teams across IDH) .

Utrecht Area, Netherlands

IDH works across commodity value chains and landscapes to prototype sustainable business models and drive these to scale. I worked within IDH's Fresh and Ingredients program, predominantly in the fruit and vegetable, juice, spices and flower sectors, and supporting IDH's Value Chain Development work across Africa. I managed the Sustainable Juice Covenant for two years, in which member companies commit to the target of 100% sustainable sourcing by 2030 (against recognized criteria). With globally traded volumes across just 16 members, the total volumes under the Juice Covenant were significant, equivalent to total juice consumption in the EU. This role provided valuable experience in convening global players in fresh and processed supply chains, and working with partners to establish full upstream traceability against recognized standards and within chain of custody criteria. I supported our water stewardship work, building partnerships and exploring opportunities in the global water sector, and developing a collective action approach to managing water risks in the Ica catchment in Peru. Under Value Chain Development, my work entailed developing our market-led export development program in the Rwandan horticulture sector, in which we worked closely with the leading Rwandan export SMEs to access premium EU and UK markets, in addition to fundraising activities for our VCD work elsewhere in Africa.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Blue North is a sustainability consultancy that operates within agricultural valuechains, driving a bottom-up approach to 'strong sustainability'. Blue North's expertise is in the development of robust sustainability management tools that make sense, and add value, to the producer. Within Blue North, I have supported the development of these tools; led the development of Blue North's Water Desk (a series of water risk management solutions); supported impact evaluation projects (HIV/AIDS and Commercialization of smallholder farmers); supported the roll-out of a stock management system for retailers; and driven Blue North's online communications (largely comprised of a curated monthly newsletter).

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Sub-contracted part-time by Blue North Sustainability through an initial freelance period, and then through the duration of my Masters studies (2015-2016). The majority of my time at Blue North over this period was spent on the following projects: The Sustainable Fruit Initiative (SFI; a 'home grown' environmental standard tailored to South African fruit industry, developed in partnership with WWF-SA); supported the Confronting Climate Change Initiative (CCC; a carbon footprint benchmarking initiative funded by the SA fruit and wine industry); and a Diagnostic Evaluation of the Agricultural Legislative Environment in the Western Cape of South Africa (in partnership with DNA Economics, and contracted by the WC Department of Agriculture).

Cape Town

PETCO is a unique industry-driven and industry-funded organisation responsible for increasing the recycling rates of post-consumer PET (polyethylene terephthalate) in South Africa, essentially fulfilling the role of a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO). I was contracted by PETCO to assess the efficacy of recycling subsidies. The project followed the course of an in-depth description of PETCO's business model; an assessment of significant supply and demand constraints (based on semi-structured interviews with industry experts); and a time-series regression analysis. This project also served as my Economics Masters dissertation through the University of Cape Town.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Anchor Environmental Consultants is a marine specialist consultancy that offers expertise in marine, ecology and environmental and natural resource economics. I was subcontracted by Anchor Environmental Consultants on several projects, including: assessing the economic and financial viability of a kob aquaculture operation in the East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ); a cost-effectiveness analysis of wetland rehabilitation in the Leliefontein communal area in the context of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change; and an assessment of the socioeconomic impacts associated with a reduced TAC (Total Allowable Catch) in the South African Small Pelagics Fishery.

Worked as a freelance auditor for IMO's Fair for Life certification.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

While at the University of Cape Town I tutored 2nd year Microeconomics, 2nd year Macroeconomics, and 3rd year Quantitative Methods in Economics.

Master Of Commerce Degree, Economics

Courses: Advanced Microeconomics; Advanced Econometrics; Natural Resource Economics; Industrial Organisation. Dissertation Topic.

Bachelor Of Commerce (Bcom), Honours Degree In Economics

Activities and Societies: 2010 University of Cape Town Canoe Club Chairman Courses: Macroeconomics; Microeconomics; Econometrics; Economic.

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Undergrad. In Env. Science, Oceanography And Synoptic Climatology And Economics

Activities and Societies: 2009 University of Cape Town Canoe Club Committee

Education record