Willem G. Janssen

Before linking up with VT, Dr. Willem Janssen had a career of over 40 years in international agricultural development. From 2004 to 2022 he worked as a Lead Agricultural Economist in the Agriculture and Food Global Practice of the World Bank, supporting investment operations and analytical work in the South Asia, Africa and Latin America regions of the world.

He led the World Bank’s engagement with the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program and with R&D development in the Africa region. He supported numerous efforts to improve agricultural competitiveness; to introduce climate smart agriculture; and to strengthen agricultural innovation systems. He piloted mechanisms for South-South collaboration, such as the Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace and made significant contributions to the theory and practice of agricultural innovation systems. Lately he led the WB’s work on urban food systems.

From 1982 to 2004 he held several scientific and management positions in the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, working on ex-ante and ex-post impact analysis, priority setting approaches and institutional development. He holds BSc, MSc and Ph.D. degrees from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, in the fields of agricultural economics, marketing and business administration. He has worked in some 60 developing countries.

Willem (co-) authored 28 articles in refereed journals, 19 books and proceedings, 18 book chapters, 18 other documents, 30 conference and workshop papers, and numerous technical notes. He led the researching and drafting of 10 World Bank reports.

He is an avid hiker and loves to brew his own beer.