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I feel that IDS has given me the right tools to interpret policies and to translate them to our daily practice.

It is 5 o’clock in the morning. The alarm goes off and the five of us wake up. It is raining. We quickly get dressed and start our daily two hour walk. We reach a small village and continue our voyage in a horse chariot. At destination we are awaited by the chief and as it seems the entire community. The four Ethiopian researchers that I hired start interviewing the pre-selected farmers and the day begins. On our 3-week journey we managed to interview around 300 randomly selected farmers in seven different areas.

Doing research in a developing country for IDS has been the best experience for my professional career. It taught me the importance of preparation, it taught me to be creative in complex situations, and it brought me the necessary tools to lead a team under hard conditions.  A truly great experience that I can recommend to everyone!

Today I am working as a manager at the Netherlands-African Business Council. In this position it is important to have a good understanding of the trade and aid policy environment here and in Africa. I feel that IDS has given me the right tools to interpret these policies and to translate them to our daily practice.