Ann Waters-Bayer

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Publication list

Ann holds a doctorate in agricultural sciences (Dr.sc.agr.) from the University of Hohenheim, Germany, specialised in agricultural sociology, after studies at the University of Winnipeg (BA Honours) and Queen’s University (MA) in Canada, the Technical University of Berlin (postgraduate training in agricultural development) and the University of New England (UNE), Australia. Her thesis for UNE was on pastoral production systems in Africa with a focus on Sudan. Her doctoral thesis was on dairying by Fulani agropastoralists in Nigeria, examining the role of women and implications for dairy development.

In 1981–85 Ann was socio-economist with ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa), based in Nigeria. In 1988–89 she co-directed the postgraduate training programme Extension and Administration in Rural Development at DITSL. 1989–2014, she was senior agriculturalist with ETC Foundation (Netherlands) – until 1995 with ILEIA (Information Centre for Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture) and then with EcoCulture. From 2000 she co-coordinated Prolinnova (Promoting local innovation in ecologically oriented agriculture and natural resource management) as GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research) Global Partnership Programme; she remains in its International Support Team. 2014–19 she was Senior Associate with KIT (Royal Tropical Institute) in Amsterdam. Since 1990 she is with the NGO Agrecol Association for AgriCulture & Ecology, of which she was president for 12 years.

2000–02 Ann co-chaired the NGO Committee of the CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) and held the civil-society organisation (CSO) seat in the CGIAR Executive Council. Since then, she held the CSO seat in EFARD’s (European Forum for Agricultural Research for Development) Management Team, of which she was Vice-Chair 2013–17. She was Advisory Board member for ATSAF (German Council for Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research) and the Czech University of Life Sciences Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences. She is now Core Team member of CELEP (Coalition of European Lobbies for Eastern African Pastoralism) and the IYRP (International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists) Coordination Group. She sits on several advisory boards and is Associate Editor of The Rangeland Journal.

Ann specialises in socio-institutional aspects of agricultural research and development, particularly in a transdisciplinary mode to enhance local innovative capacities. She has worked in several action-research projects with small-scale mixed farmers (rural and urban) and livestock-keepers (settled and mobile). She has co-researched on agricultural communication, agricultural innovation systems, agroecology, climate-change adaptation and pastoralist development in drylands. She has also engaged in participatory monitoring & evaluation and impact assessment of farmer-led participatory approaches. She gives particular attention to gender issues and to a process-documentation approach to co-learning. She is member of the NaviNut (Promoting women’s innovation in child nutrition in Benin & Kenya) project team coordinated by DITSL and is also studying the impact of large-scale renewable energy projects on pastoralist livelihoods.

Long term: Australia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia. Short term: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Eritrea, Georgia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, Zimbabwe.