Nevena Alexandrova-Stefanova holds a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology; M.Sc. in Plant molecular biology and physiology; M.Sc. in Pedagogy; PhD in marker-assisted plant biotechnologies; post-doctoral fellowship in biosafety for developing countries (International Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnologies - ICGEB, Trieste, Italy). She has twelve years of experience as researcher, project manager (3 GEF projects, EC Framework Programs 5, 6 and 7) and science-communicator (extension) in agricultural biotechnologies, biosafety , and knowledge-sharing issues on national and international levels as Head of the Bulgarian science communication center.
From 2008 to 2018, Ms Alexandrova-Stefanova has worked at FAO and the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia as Agricultural Innovation Systems and Knowledge Sharing Officer. Her focus areas have been policy advice and approaches to increase access to demand-driven knowledge, research and education, and services to smallholder farmers (men and women), including through information and communication technologies (ICTs); generation and adoption of sustainable technologies and frameworks on frontier technologies. She has been proving support to countries in e-agriculture (digital) strategy formulation and implementation, and generation and adoption of sustainable technologies, online platforms and frameworks that would improve farmers’ livelihoods and provide benefits for environment.
Since November 2018, Ms Alexandrova-Stefanova has joined the Research and Extension Unit (AGDR) at FAO Headquarters as Agricultural Extension Officer with the global mandate to support countries in transforming their agricultural extension systems and bridging institutions to bring, facilitate and up-scale innovations for enhanced livelihoods of rural communities.