24 September 2007

WARDA Appoints New Assistant Director General for Research

After a rigorous selection process, Dr Marco Wopereis, of Dutch nationality, has been appointed as WARDA’s incoming Assistant Director General, Research & Development. He will take up his new functions in December 2007.

Dr Wopereis has extensive experience in research and development related to integrated natural resource management, and rice in particular. He has led multi-national and multi-disciplinary scientific teams in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Before joining WARDA, Dr Wopereis was heading the Annual Crops Department at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad), based in Montpellier, France, overseeing activities in South-East Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Wopereis is no stranger to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), having worked for WARDA as Rice Agronomist from 1994 to 2000 and as Scientific Coordinator of the Inland Valley Consortium from 2000 to 2002.

He worked earlier at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on enhancing water productivity of rice-based production systems. Both WARDA and IRRI are supported by the CGIAR.

Dr Wopereis was also associated with the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) as Program Leader at IFDC Africa Division, based in Lomé, Togo.

He is particularly noted for his drive to achieve impact in farmers’ fields and linking farmers to input and output markets through high quality applied and strategic research. His expertise is reflected through more than 90 scientific publications in books and internationally refereed journals as well as manuals and guides for extension agents and farmers.

Dr Wopereis is fluent in WARDA’s two main working languages (French and English), besides Dutch and German. He earned his PhD degree in Tropical Agronomy from the Wageningen University in The Netherlands in 1993.