Before joining IDRC, Ahmed worked with non-governmental organizations in parts of India vulnerable to drought, flood, and coastal storms. She tackled issues ranging from the impacts of climate change to the role of gender in water governance and conflicts over water. Ahmed was Chair of the international Gender and Water Alliance and sat on the steering committee of the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India. She has also worked with the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition, taught for a decade at India’s Institute of Rural Management, and published on many facets of water policy and gender issues.
Ahmed holds a PhD in environmental sociology and an MPhil in international relations from Cambridge University (England).
Innocent ButaréSenior Program SpecialistInnocent Butaré is a research expert in areas that are critical to development such as agriculture and food security, environmental sustainability, water security, rural development, and scientific innovation.
Before joining IDRC, Butaré lectured at universities and was a consultant for several international organizations. His work on agriculture and food security in West and Central Africa focuses on the needs of rural poor who live in fragile or degraded ecosystems.
Butaré holds a PhD and an MSc in experimental and applied ecology.
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Renaud De PlaenSenior Program Specialist
Renaud De Plaen is a skilled researcher whose work cuts across critical development issues such as the environment, food security, and human health.
De Plaen joined IDRC in 2001, bringing with him extensive field experience in natural resource management and its influence on the life of rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa. With IDRC’s Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health program, De Plaen guided research on the interactions between environmental change, livelihoods, and human health. He has also studied linkages between food production systems, HIV/AIDS, and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. His work currently focuses on the impact of community-based natural resource management systems on rural populations in Latin America.
Renaud De Plaen holds a PhD in geography from Rutgers University.
Pascal Sanginga
Senior Program SpecialistAs a social scientist, Pascal Sanginga has conducted research on agriculture and natural resource management for development in sub-Saharan Africa for over 15 years.
Before joining IDRC in 2007, Sanginga worked for the International Centre of Tropical Agriculture in eastern, southern, and central Africa, conducting research in participatory natural resource management, rural innovation systems, and gender. He was also a research fellow at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria, where he studied the social impacts of agricultural innovations.
Sanginga holds a PhD in rural sociology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Annie WesleySenior Program SpecialistAnnie Wesley is an expert in food science, food technology, and nutrition. Much of her work has involved improving the nutritional status of women and children in developing countries.
Wesley’s work at IDRC focuses on food security and nutrition security. Before joining IDRC, she was with the Micronutrient Initiative (formerly a secretariat of IDRC), which strives to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies in developing countries. She provided technical expertise in areas like food fortification and managed programs in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Wesley also worked at the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University in India, where she was involved in community nutrition studies and extension education in rural areas.
Wesley holds a PhD in food science from the Central Food Technological Research Institute, India, and has done post-doctoral work in cereal chemistry and food technology in the US and Canada.
Hammou Laamrani
Senior Program OfficerHammou Laamrani is an expert on the management of water resources in the Middle East and North Africa – particularly with regard to rural and community development.
At IDRC, Laamrani coordinates WaDImena, a program that promotes the management of water demand in 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Before joining IDRC in 2007, Laamrani was a senior researcher at the International Water Management Institute, where he developed community-based irrigation schemes in Morocco, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia. He was also a lecturer and consultant in Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education. He has written extensively on water demand management as it relates to health, agriculture, and gender.
Laamrani holds a PhD in environment and health from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and an MSc in freshwater ecology and education technology from the Hassan II Agronomics and Veterinary Institute (Morocco).
Susan Robertson
Senior Program OfficerA member of the Agriculture and Food Security team, Susan Robertson is an expert in agricultural economics – including value chains, rural entrepreneurship, and access to agricultural markets.
Before joining IDRC, Robertson did extensive research on the effects of extreme weather events on agricultural production and the resulting impact on land use. She has taught at the University of Alberta, Grant McEwen College, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and the University of Guelph, on topics related to resource and environmental economics.
Robertson is completing her PhD in agriculture and resource economics at the University of Alberta. She holds an MSc in agricultural economics and international development studies from the University of Guelph.
Kevin Tiessen
Senior Program OfficerKevin Tiessen is a soil scientist with expertise in agriculture, food security, and long-term protection of soil and water. His responsibilities at IDRC include the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund, a joint program of IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency.
Tiessen comes to IDRC from the University of Manitoba, where he did post-doctoral research in soil science. He has worked with agricultural research centres in Canada and Costa Rica, studying issues of water quality and quantity, soil and water conservation, soil fertility, and agricultural production. He has also worked with farmers and agronomists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is widely published in fields ranging from potato and wheat production in Canada to soil erosion in Latin America.
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Delphine LarrousseProgram OfficerDelphine Larrousse is an expert in information and communication technologies and their economic, social, cultural, and public health impacts in Latin America.
Before joining IDRC in 2009, Larrousse was the driving force behind the creation of Vitalideas in Ecuador, an organization that promotes ecotourism, organic agriculture, and reforestation in the Amazon. She has also tackled issues ranging from public health and sanitation in India to education and poverty reduction in rural Ecuador. Larrousse has worked for Thydêwás, an organization that promotes intercultural dialogue and the use of the Internet by Brazil’s indigenous people. She has also worked for UNESCO coordinating community development projects on access to information, prevention of HIV transmission, citizen participation, gender issues, and linguistic diversity.
Larrousse holds an MA in intercultural communication from Anglia Ruskin University (UK).
Alvaro PazProject Coordinator
Alvaro has over 15 years of experience as a researcher, international consultant and research manager in Latin America, especially in the Andes.
Alvaro Paz joined IDRC in 2009 as the Coordinator of the AFS Program “Scaling Up Rural Innovations”. Prior to joining IDRC, Alvaro held a Program Officer position for The Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) in Bolivia, where he was in charge of the biodiversity and culture (BioCulture) area.
Alvaro is an agronomist and holds an MSc in resource economics from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico and a postgraduate degree in Agribuisiness from the same university.
Wendy ManchurProgram Management Officer
Wendy joined IDRC in 2002 with the Asian Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program and Latin America MINGA programs, and later worked with the Rural Poverty and Environment (RPE) program from 2005-2010. Her interests include rural development, participatory research, local/indigenous knowledge, natural resource management, agriculture, and monitoring and evaluation.
Before joining IDRC she worked for environmental non-profit organizations on community-based natural resource management issues in British Columbia with coastal First Nations communities, and coastal communities in México. She has field experience having worked on field ecology projects in South Africa and Northern Manitoba; and on agriculture and protected areas issues in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Canada.
Wendy holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from Dalhousie University, and a BSc in Ecology from the University of Manitoba.
Helen Raij
Program Management Officer
Helen Raij is a Program Manager Officer with the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office and spends 50% of her time with the Agriculture and Food Security (AFS) program. She has extensive experience in technical and management support to projects in agriculture and environment, including monitoring and evaluation activities.
Helen Raij holds a MSc in Food Engineering and Biotechnology from the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and studied agronomy at the Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay.
Nadia Larouche
Program Assistant
As Program Assistant, Nadia brings her program coordination and administration skills to IDRC from her extensive background working with international NGOs. After volunteering at a Burmese orphanage in Thailand, Nadia decided to pursue her interest in international development. She has since worked with VSO, CUSO, CANADEM, and CPHA (Canadian Public Health Association).
Nadia holds a BA in Anthropology/Sociology from Carleton University and a TES/FL certificate from Algonquin College. Nadia has worked in Japan and London, UK.