Meet a TReNDS Expert: Bram Govaerts
Written by TReNDS Staff
In the Meet TReNDS series, we introduce you to TReNDS' experts, staff, and friends–leading individuals and organizations in the broader data for development community.
Meet...
TReNDS expert Bram Govaerts, Director, Integrated Development Program, Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)
About Bram
Bram Govaerts is CIMMYT’s global Director of Innovative Business Strategies, regional representative for the Americas and country representative for Mexico. Since 2007, Govaerts has led the Latin America Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification strategy at CIMMYT. From 2003-2007 he was Research Associate with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven working in Ethiopia, India, Mexico and other countries. Govaerts holds a Ph.D. in Bioscience Engineering and Soil Science, a master’s degree in Soil Conservation and Tropical Agriculture, and a bachelor’s degree in Bioscience Engineering, all from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. In 2003, Govaerts received the Development Cooperation Prize from the Belgian Federal Government. In 2014 he was awarded the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation and awarded by the World Food Prize, for the development of sustainable agricultural systems. In 2018 he received the Premio Tecnoagro, awarded by an organization of 2,500 Mexican farmers.
Q&A
TReNDS Staff: In your career, what area of data for development have you primarily focused on?
Bram Govaerts: Data along the agrifood systems
Source: Gobierno de México
What emerging area of data for development are you most eager to tackle in your own work?
Data use for decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI)
What emerging area of data for development are you most eager to see addressed by the community at large?
Data use for decision-making and AI
What is the most interesting use of data you’ve seen?
The development of the national plan for agriculture in Mexico (more here)
What are you most eager to engage in with TReNDS?
Idea exchange, positioning cases, and best practices
Read some of Bram’s recent work here: Bigger Data, Smaller Farms: The Role of Big Data in Sustainable Intensification