Profile of

Dirk Hoekstra is an agricultural economist, who got his Ir degree from Wageningen Agriculture University in 1973. In May 2004, he was recruited to manage the IPMS Project. During his professional career, Dirk has worked in numerous countries in agricultural development and research. Amongst others he worked for ICRAF from 1982 to 1993. During that period, he contributed to the development of the agro forestry research networks in sub Saharan Africa and coordinated the development and implementation of the East and Central African Highlands agroforestry research network activities from 1987 to early 1993. As a project manager of a Dutch funded rural development project in the South West of Ethiopia from 1999 to 2003, he assisted the Ministry of Agriculture and cooperatives in the development of a market system for the sale of forest coffee to Europe.