Eliot Masters is a specialist in resilient agricultural development with over 22 years of experience in designing, implementing and overseeing projects (both as Chief of Party and as Project Coordinator). Mr. Masters has initiated and undertaken a series of targeted interventions based on integrated value chains development of agricultural and natural products at the smallholder producer level, focusing on agro-biodiversity and nutrition, product development and diversification, post-harvest processing, product quality control, definition and elaboration of product quality standards, and product certification.
With excellent communication skills in English, French and Luo, Mr. Masters has designed and implemented applied research programs on natural product value chains and rural livelihoods based on sustainable use and management of agricultural and natural resources, including quantitative studies of plant biodiversity and the landscape-level impacts of specific management interventions for agricultural intensification on household food security and livelihoods. With a B.Sc. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California at Davis and an MBA (Marketing) from the University of Liverpool, Mr. Masters has served as a specialist on agriculture and trade, rural livelihoods and food security, and smallholder farmer adaptation to climate change for the United Nations (including FAO, WFP, UNEP and UNDP-GEF), donors (including USAID, the CFC and the Rockefeller Foundation), NGOs (including IUCN, Oxfam GB, CARE and MSF), private consulting firms (Abt Associates) and international bodies including the CGIAR (ICRAF and ICRISAT) on assignments in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi and Vietnam.
Since 1988, Mr. Masters has conceived, designed and implemented a series of market-driven programs of sustained impact based on:
• value addition by rural producers through improved postharvest processing and quality control;
• agro-processing by community-based farming groups (women’s groups) microenterprise and SME;
• scaling up producer upgrading through product development, diversification and product quality assurance;
• producer engagement with the private sector at all levels (local traders to global industry and PPPs); and
• definition and elaboration of product quality standards and standard operating procedures (HACCP).
Project appraisal and program design, monitoring and evaluation including
• pre-feasibility studies, value chain analysis, livelihood analysis, food security and vulnerability assessments;
• business plans, sub-sectoral market studies, situation assessments, risks and costs-benefits analysis;
• project appraisal, baseline and diagnostic studies, SWOT and stakeholder analysis;
• project mid-term evaluations, and post-project impact evaluations and ex-post evaluations
Fundraising and donor negotiations, project implementation and reporting
• Over 20 years of experience in program planning, project design and proposal development, fundraising donor negotiations, project implementation (supervising up to 52 staff), and reporting to multiple donors
• Mobilized US$5.5 million in development funds from bilateral (EC, USAID), multilateral (CFC) and private donors in support of four programs, implemented under difficult conditions including conflict and post-conflict
Networking applied research on agro-biodiversity, adaptation to climate change, biofuels and food security
• Implemented applied research programs on sustainable use and management of genetic and natural resources, including decentralized institutional capacity building of national agricultural research (NARS) institutions;
• Developed institutional and individual partnerships with a wide range of regional and international research institutions, and established working linkages with community-based producer groups across Africa; and
• Published three CFC Technical Papers (21, 39 and 46) for the UN-FAO, ICRAF and ICRISAT.
Contact:
Email (delete spaces): e.masters @ cgiar.org / sheanut @ gmail.com
Residence: Silver Spring, MD USA 20906
Tel.: +1 301 825 3109
Please click the link below to download a recent copy of my CV in .pdf format (7 pp)
Eliot Masters CV January 2012.
Also see the following websites, in varying degrees of out-of-datedness :
The Shea Project
COVOL Uganda
The Shea Network
Naturally African Platform
Brand Aotearoa
The Inspiratorium at Te Tai Tapu
Eliot Masters is a specialist in resilient agricultural development with over 22 years of experience in designing, implementing and overseeing projects (both as Chief of Party and as Project Coordinator). Mr. Masters has initiated and undertaken a series of targeted interventions based on integrated value chains development of agricultural and natural products at the smallholder producer level, focusing on agro-biodiversity and nutrition, product development and diversification, post-harvest processing, product quality control, definition and elaboration of product quality standards, and product certification.
With excellent communication skills in English, French and Luo, Mr. Masters has designed and implemented applied research programs on natural product value chains and rural livelihoods based on sustainable use and management of agricultural and natural resources, including quantitative studies of plant biodiversity and the landscape-level impacts of specific management interventions for agricultural intensification on household food security and livelihoods. With a B.Sc. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California at Davis and an MBA (Marketing) from the University of Liverpool, Mr. Masters has served as a specialist on agriculture and trade, rural livelihoods and food security, and smallholder farmer adaptation to climate change for the United Nations (including FAO, WFP, UNEP and UNDP-GEF), donors (including USAID, the CFC and the Rockefeller Foundation), NGOs (including IUCN, Oxfam GB, CARE and MSF), private consulting firms (Abt Associates) and international bodies including the CGIAR (ICRAF and ICRISAT) on assignments in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi and Vietnam.
Since 1988, Mr. Masters has conceived, designed and implemented a series of market-driven programs of sustained impact based on:
• value addition by rural producers through improved postharvest processing and quality control;
• agro-processing by community-based farming groups (women’s groups) microenterprise and SME;
• scaling up producer upgrading through product development, diversification and product quality assurance;
• producer engagement with the private sector at all levels (local traders to global industry and PPPs); and
• definition and elaboration of product quality standards and standard operating procedures (HACCP).
Project appraisal and program design, monitoring and evaluation including
• pre-feasibility studies, value chain analysis, livelihood analysis, food security and vulnerability assessments;
• business plans, sub-sectoral market studies, situation assessments, risks and costs-benefits analysis;
• project appraisal, baseline and diagnostic studies, SWOT and stakeholder analysis;
• project mid-term evaluations, and post-project impact evaluations and ex-post evaluations
Fundraising and donor negotiations, project implementation and reporting
• Over 20 years of experience in program planning, project design and proposal development, fundraising donor negotiations, project implementation (supervising up to 52 staff), and reporting to multiple donors
• Mobilized US$5.5 million in development funds from bilateral (EC, USAID), multilateral (CFC) and private donors in support of four programs, implemented under difficult conditions including conflict and post-conflict
Networking applied research on agro-biodiversity, adaptation to climate change, biofuels and food security
• Implemented applied research programs on sustainable use and management of genetic and natural resources, including decentralized institutional capacity building of national agricultural research (NARS) institutions;
• Developed institutional and individual partnerships with a wide range of regional and international research institutions, and established working linkages with community-based producer groups across Africa; and
• Published three CFC Technical Papers (21, 39 and 46) for the UN-FAO, ICRAF and ICRISAT.
Contact:
Email (delete spaces): e.masters @ cgiar.org / sheanut @ gmail.com
Residence: Silver Spring, MD USA 20906
Tel.: +1 301 825 3109
Please click the link below to download a recent copy of my CV in .pdf format (7 pp)
Eliot Masters CV January 2012.
Also see the following websites, in varying degrees of out-of-datedness :
The Shea Project
COVOL Uganda
The Shea Network
Naturally African Platform
Brand Aotearoa
The Inspiratorium at Te Tai Tapu