text only version   print friendly

Helping to Build a World Without Hunger
  FAO Water  
   
Who We Are
Where We Are
What We Do
News Archive
Events Calendar
Topics
    Information Resources
    Activities
    Hot Issues
 
 
 
 
AQUASTAT
Modernization of Irrigation Systems
UN-Water
Who We Are
Meet the FAO Water Development and Management Unit

© Frans de Vries  http://www.flickr.com/photos/devriese/Meet the people who are behind projects and experience in good practices for water management and conservation, for disseminating crucial information and assisting countries and people, all facing the same important issue: access and availability to safe water in a healthy environment, today and tomorrow.

 
FAO water Unit: the people
Steduto
Pasquale Steduto
Service Chief, NRLW

Holding a MSc in Water Science and a PhD in Soil-Plant-Water Relationships from the University of California in Davis, Mr Steduto has been working for more than 20 years on agricultural water use efficiency and water productivity, with a focus of crops water requirements, their yield response to water and associate modelling development under water scarcity conditions. Scientific and technical activities have been conjugated with the management of many water-related development projects in Southern Europe, North Africa, Near East and Sub Saharan Africa, also in cooperation with Centres of the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research). Authors of over 100 publications in scientific journals and books, he has joint FAO in 2003 and is currently the focal point for FAO in chairing UN-Water.

pasquale.steduto@fao.org
Julián Martínez-Beltrán
Technical Officer (Water Quality, Drainage and Salinity Management)

I am an agricultural engineer (PhD) with specialization in land and water management, specifically in land drainage and control of soil and water salinity in irrigated lands. I have also worked in reclamation and management of problem soils (clay soils, saline soils, peat soils, etc.). From 1970 to 1996, my field experience was focused mainly in Spain and some Latin America countries. With FAO, I have participated in projects in Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Gambia, Iran, Myanmar and India.

julian.martinezbeltran@fao.org
Beltran
Burke
Jake Burke
Senior Officer (Water Policy)

I am an engineering hydrologist by training and and have over 25 years experience in water resource and hydro-environmental management in arid, semi-arid and humid tropical environments. This has involved working for private contractors and consultants before joining the UN Secretariat as a technical adviser in groundwater in 1992. From 2000 to date I have covered the policy aspects of agricultural water management for FAO with a strong focus on groundwater management for rural development and transboundary river basin analysis.

jacob.burke@fao.org
Jean-Marc Faurès
Senior Officer (Water Resources Management)

I am an agricultural engineer with specialization in water resources management, I spent most of my career dealing with issues related to improved productivity of water in agriculture, with emphasis on the Mediterranean region. In close collaboration with national governments, I work on the analysis and policy implications of agricultural water use and water demand management. I also participate in global perspective studies related to the impact of irrigated agriculture on water scarcity and inter-sectoral competition for water.

jeanmarc.faures@fao.org
Faures
nicoletta forlano
Nicoletta Forlano
Technical Officer (Communication and Information Management)

I graduated in multimedia design in 1993 and have been part of pilot projects using interactivity since its early days. I have worked in the private sector on projects with the National Geographic, the Getty Conservation Institute, Ericsson, but also for the EU, where I revised projects with highly technological content. I think communication plays a crucial role in our lives and I like the challenge to bring innovation where it is less expected. Since November 2006 I am responsible for the visual identity and communication for the FAO Water Unit.

nicoletta.forlano@fao.org
Karen Frenken
Technical Officer (Water Resources)

As an agricultural engineer I worked for 15 years in different countries in South Asia, the Near East and mostly Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly on irrigation and water management for agricultural purposes, in particular dealing with fragile ecosystems and paying special attention to women and irrigated agriculture. After that, I was for 5 years FAO's water resources management officer for Southern and Eastern Africa, based in Zimbabwe, before joining FAO Headquarters in Rome in 2003. One of my responsibilities at present is managing the AQUASTAT Programme, FAO's global information system on water and agriculture.

karen.frenken@fao.org
Franken
jippe
Jippe Hoogeveen
Technical Officer (Water Resources)

I graduated in 1991 as an agricultural engineer, and I have been working for the FAO's water service since 1997. I am involved in projects that deal with water resources assessment on the river basin scale. I am experienced in making use of Geographical Information Systems and hydrological models as tools to provide better insight in the influence of agricultural water use on available fresh water resources.

jippe.hoogeveen@fao.org
Sasha Koo-Oshima
Technical Officer (Water Quality and Environment)

I received my graduate degree from Yale University in environmental health and engineering with undergraduate studies in biology and chemistry. With 20 years of experience, my current application area   interfaces water quality monitoring and assessments with various developments in safe reuse of wastewater, (peri) urban agriculture, arsenic and heavy metals remediation, biofuels/climate adaptations, Codex Alimentarius and food quality and safety, and environment and health impact mitigation in agricultural pollution prevention. Prior to the FAO, I was employed at the OECD, UN organizations, national research, and private sectors. 

sasha.koo@fao.org
Koo
Mejias
Patricia Mejías
Technical Officer

I am an agricultural engineer, MSc in Natural Resources Management. My studies focused on the socio-economic analysis of the impact of agricultural and water policies through biophysical and economic models. I gained experience in various agricultural and economic institutions before joining FAO in 2003. I have participated in several research and technical projects aiming to ensure the sustainable use of water in agriculture (cost recovery and water tariff estimation studies, irrigation modernization

patricia.mejiasmoreno@fao.org

Giovanni Muñoz
Technical Officer (Water Development)

The main areas of my work since I joined FAO in 2001 have been irrigation management, on-farm irrigation, crop water management, water productivity and decision support systems such as CROPWAT, for which I am currently responsible.   I am an agricultural engineer specialised in water management and have working experience in projects and programmes in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and more recently in Central Asia.

giovanni.munoz@fao.org
munoz
ines
Ines Beernaerts
Land and Water Resources Officer for West Africa

I am an agricultural engineer with a specialization in water resources management and have over 13 years experience within the United Nations in the water sector. Since August 2006, I am the Land and Water Resources Officer at the newly established FAO Subregional Office for West Africa, based in Ghana, where I focus on providing direct support to member countries in the subregion with the design and monitoring of sustainable projects on small-scale agricultural water development while contributing to advanced knowledge on water harvesting, small-scale irrigation and safe use of wastewater in agriculture especially in urban and peri-urban areas.   

ines.beernaerts@fao.org

Mohamed Bazza
Senior Irrigation and Water Resources Officer

M.S. and Ph.D. in Land and Water Sciences and M.S. in Statistics from the University of California in Davis, USA. 28 years of experience in water resources planning and management, with a focus on agriculture water management under water scarcity conditions. Served as University Professor and Researcher in Agricultural Engineering, in addition to project development and implementation and the provision of consulting services to UN Organizations, the World Bank and the public and private sectors. Joined FAO in 1998 where presently responsible for the elaboration and implementation of FAO normative and field programmes on land and water resources. Working experience in over forty countries of the Middle East, West Asia and Africa and author of over 140 papers and communications.

mohamed.bazza@fao.org
bazza
FACon
Thierry Facon
Senior Regional Water Management
Officer for Asia and the Pacific

I joined FAO in 1985 after graduating from France's Ecole Polytechnique and ENGREF. I moved to FAO's regional Office for Asia ad the Pacific in 1999 after several years at Headquarters and development projects in the Pacific and the Caribbean. My present priorities are: the modernization of irrigation systems in Asia through capacity building, tools for appraising and improving the system's performance and management, analysis of impacts of projects and institutional reforms,  and support to country strategies and investment programmes; the multifunctionality of irrigation systems; improving rice water management; and integrated water resources manageent and strategic planning in the water sector.  

thierry.facon@fao.org
Daniel Renault
Senior Officer (Irrigation Management)

I am a civil engineer with specialisation in irrigation management with a diversified career of professor, researcher and project manager – in several institutes ENGREF/CEMAGREF, IWMI and FAO, and a focus on South Asian countries. I worked on large irrigation system management from technical and institutional perspectives, developing tools and capacity development programs for performance assessment and for designing modernization strategies at project and state levels for Service Oriented Management (SOM) and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).

daniel.renault@fao.org
Renault
guido
Guido Santini
Technical Officer

I am an agronomist with specific expertise on agricultural socio-economics, natural resources management and spatial information management. I have international experience in project identification and management, participatory planning, and survey design with FAO (Kenya and Uganda), UNDP (Albania) and the private sector (Mozambique and Italy). I am currently working on a project funded by IFAD dealing with investments options that enhance water use in agriculture and improve rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.

guido.santini@fao.org
Maher Salman
Technical Officer

I am a Water Management Specialist with extensive experience in the Near East region. My career has included research studies in Syria and the United Kingdom on agricultural water management. Prior to my research activities, I served as a water engineer at the Ministry of Irrigation in Syria following project development in the Euphrates and Tigris Basins. Since I joined the Land and Water Division in 2001, I focussed on developing activities in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen and Turkey. I also supported the development and management of the IPTRID Programme's Knowledge Systems, in particular the WCA-InfoNET and CapDevWater.

maher.salman@fao.org
Salman

Jan Van Wambeke
Senior Officer

I am an a soil scientist who has been working with FAO since 1978 in Africa and Latin America in particular with consultancies in the Near East and Asia. My field of work relates to Land and Water Management, Land Evaluation and Participatory Planning of Natural Resources in microcatchments. As a Senior Officer in FAO's in Land and Water Development in the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RLC), I am involved in FAO's field programme technical backstopping, monitoring and evaluation in the region and in normative work related to Integrated Water Resources Management in particular.

jan.vanwambeke@fao.org
Sourakata Bangoura
Land and Water Resources Officer for Central Africa

I am an agricultural engineer with specialization in Irrigation & Drainage, graduated in 1979 at the Faculty of Irrigation & Drainage, Habana Cuba. With over 20 years of experience in the field of water resources management & other rural infrastructure development for agriculture uses, with special emphasis on small-scale irrigation development and management, capacity building & policy advice. I started my career as a Lecturer (1980-1982) at the Agricultural Faculty in Guinea. From 1982 to 1996 I have worked as National Director of Rural Engineering Directorate in Guinea, project Director and national consultant and TCDC international consultant. After joining FAO in 1998, I worked as water resources Officer in RAF Africa, later as FAO Representative/OTO Technical Officer in Equatorial Guinea and presently Land &Water management Officer in FAO subregional Office for Central Africa.

Sourakata.bangoura@fao.org
bangoura
Martin Ager
Water Resources Officer

Since completing an M.Sc. in engineering hydrology I have worked for over 20 years in water resources and flood defence in the UK and in development and emergency water and sanitation projects mostly in Africa.  I spent 6 years working on dam construction for small scale irrigation and livestock  watering.  I joined FAO in 2004 as the water resources officer for southern (and initially also for east) Africa, based in the Zimbabwe Office. Working in a decentralised office you need to be a generalist, able to answer, or find the answer, to queries on anything related to agricultural water management.  Much of my work is providing support to projects throughout the sub-region. I have also run several intensive training courses for  government irrigation officers. 

martin.ager@fao.org
guido
Zhijun Chen
Water Resources Development
and Conservation Officer

Holding a BSc in Irrigation and Drainage, a MSc in Fluid Machinery and Hydrokinetic Engineering as well as a PhD in Farmland Water Conservancy; 18 years' working experiences with national governments, UN Department and Agency, mainly in Asia and the Pacific Region, on water sector management, water project planning and programming as well as implementation; joined in FAO from 2004; now focus on water productivity and irrigation modernization, irrigation and IWRM and ecosystem, water harvesting and small irrigation development.

zhijun.chen@fao.org
Robina Wahaj
Irrigation Management (Consultant)
pix

Robina Wahaj holds a PhD degree in Irrigation management. She started her professional career as water management officer in 1992. Since then she has worked on wide range of issues related to Integrated Water Resources Management; Irrigation Modernization; Performance Evaluation of the Irrigation Systems; Conjunctive use of surface and ground water for irrigation; and Gender issues in water management. She has been working as a consultant with FAO since 2001 on projects related to Irrigtion System Management,Canal Operation and Irrigation Modernization.

emailrobina.wahaj@fao.org
pix robina
px px
Johan Kuylenstierna
Chief Technical Advisor, UN Water
px

Chief Technical Advisor to the Chair of UN-Water. Johan has a PhLic in Physical Geography. He has previous work experience from the Stockholm International Water Institute, as a Management Consultant, from the UN System (UN-DESA and WMO) and as a university teacher. He currently holds an adjunct professorship at the Department of Physical Geography and Quarternary Geology at the Stockholm. University.

iconJohan.Kuylenstierna@fao.org
Jim Morgan
Information Designer (Consultant)
pix

After studying Typography at Staffordshire University, I began work in 1996 as a designer for one of the UK's fastest growing e-business developers. Then, after a spell as a lecturer at my old University, I moved to Rome in 2001 to become the Design Director at the Rome office of new media specialists Deepend, where I was in charge of design output on accounts such as Swatch, Adidas and Ferrari. Now, in my third year at FAO, I design and produce publications, animations, videos and web pages for the Unit.

emailjames.morgan@fao.org
pix jim

 

 
Contact Us
  © FAO
FAO water