Community of Practice on Genebank Impacts

Coordinators

Nelissa Jamora

Nelissa Jamora leads the monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment of programmes and projects of the Crop Trust. She has a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Göttingen in Germany and an MSc from Michigan State University in the USA. Her interest in agricultural development was motivated from her early work at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on price and market analysis and impact assessment involving rice farmers in the Philippines. Nelissa received a USA Fulbright scholarship in 2004 and a grant for early-researchers in 2014 from the German Research Foundation. She was recognized as a Young Rice Scientist at the International Rice Congress in 2014 for her work on rice price analysis. She joined the Crop Trust in 2015 and currently coordinates the Community of Practice on Genebank Impacts.

Melinda Smale

Melinda Smale joined the Food Security Group at Michigan State University (MSU) in 2011 as Professor of International Development, working intensively with research partners in Kenya, Zambia and Mali. From 2002, at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Bioversity International, she led a global research programme about the economics of crop genetic resources. The team studied biotech crops, genebanks, on-farm crop diversity, local seed markets, and underutilized crops in numerous countries, including Mali, Uganda, India, Nepal, Bolivia, Colombia and the Philippines. While living in Malawi and later in Mexico (1989-2000), she analyzed the adoption and impacts of improved wheat and maize seed for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). During the 1980s, Melinda worked in Pakistan, Somalia, Mauritania and Niger on shorter-term assignments. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, has received awards for outstanding articles and has served on the editorial committees of several journals. She enjoys working with young professionals.