Professor University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Chris Reij is trained as a human geographer. From 1978 till 1982 he worked in Burkina Faso as a regional planner, where he developed an interest in soil and water conservation. Since 1982 he is working as a  specialist in sustainable land management at the Center for International Cooperation of VU University Amsterdam. He has been involved in numerous consultancies for multilateral and bilateral agencies (World Bank, IFAD, UNSO, OECD/Club du Sahel, EU/CTA), as well as for NGOs, mainly in Africa. During the last 15 years he has coordinated research programs on indigenous soil and water conservation practices in Africa (13 countries) , on farmer innovation in Africa (7 countries) and on long term trends in agriculture and environment  as well as impacts of investments in natural resource management in the Sahel (4 countries). These research programs have led to a number of publications. Chris is at present facilitator of a new initiative to promote re-greening in Africa’s drylands, which builds on existing success stories. This initiative is operational in Burkina Faso and Mali and is now epanding to Niger and Ethiopia.