Jennifer Peterson

Jennifer Peterson is an extension agronomist and behavior change specialist with over 30 years of experience in designing, managing, and evaluating food security and poverty reduction programs in Africa and the United States. She has worked with various prestigious organizations including the Department of State, US Peace Corps, USAID, UNDP, FAO, ICRISAT, ICRAF, and local and international NGOs.

Her expertise includes vulnerability assessment, gender analysis, participatory wealth ranking, and food security monitoring. Jennifer is fluent in English, French, Kikongo, and has a functional understanding of Chewa/Nyanja, Zarma, and Pular dialects. She is skilled in using Microsoft Office, SPSS, EPI Info, and ENA for data management on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

Jennifer's specialties span agronomy, agriculture extension, agroforestry, integrated nutrition and agriculture approaches, food security, gender analysis, participatory M&E, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, communication for behavior change, program management, and leadership.

She holds a M.Sc in Adult Education and Communication/Farming Systems Research and Extension, a M.Ag in Forage Agronomy, and a B.A in International Development from the University of Florida and the University of Virginia.

Throughout her career, Jennifer has held key roles at organizations such as Tetra Tech, Catholic Relief Services, Land O'Lakes Cooperative Development Program, Helen Keller International, US Embassy, Niamey, Africare, and various other non-profit organizations. She has also worked as a Technical Trainer at US Peace Corps and has experience in research, program coordination, agricultural training, and project management.