OUR PEOPLE
Dr. Silvia Silvestri
Fellow
Bio
Dr. Silvia Silvestri is an agricultural and development economist with 20 years’ experience. Specialized in knowledge translation, she works across research for development, policy and practices, to promote evidence-based decision making.
She is currently a consultant, collaborating with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and previously with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and several NGOs.
Prior, she was based in Rwanda where she worked for the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), leading social science research and fostering the growth of a social science team.
Before joining CABI Silvia was based in Kenya, working for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) coordinating the institute activities on trade-off between food security and climate change adaptation, and for the United Nation Environment Program-World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC), in Cambridge (UK).
Silvia has worked in Europe, Asia and across 16 African countries.
Her areas of expertise and interest include: rural development, gender equality and inclusion, climate change impact and adaptation, climate smart agriculture, digital agriculture, natural resources management, agricultural livelihoods and food security, ICT for development, extension, social and behavior change communication.
She has authored and co-authored more than 70 publications of diverse profile.
Silvia is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Italian and holds a PhD with mention of Doctor Europaeus, in Agricultural Economics and Policy from the University of Padua in Italy, a master in Agri-food Business and in Biology.