Rodrigo Abed is a Technical Research Specialist with the Tanzania-NAFAKA II project at ACDI/VOCA and he is leading the development and implementation of the project’s learning agenda. Prior to joining NAFAKA, Rodrigo held different appointments in the public and private sector as well as in an international organization, both nationally and internationally (Germany and Italy). His work focuses on bridging the gap between research and implementing evidence-based actions at the field level to achieve sustainable rural development. A Paraguayan national, Rodrigo holds a BS in Agriculture from the National University of Asuncion and a Master’s in Agribusiness from Texas A&M University through a Fulbright scholarship.

Krista Jacobs is the Senior Gender Advisor in USAID's Bureau for Food Security, which coordinates the US government's Feed the Future programming. She is a development economist whose work focuses on gender, food security, and assets. Current and recent work includes advising agricultural projects on gender integration, program evaluation, developing methods to measure women’s and men’s land and asset rights, building gender capacity of community-based programs, and building the monitoring and evaluation capacity of local civil-society organizations. Her work has focused in East and West Africa. Dr. Jacobs holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis.