Sigrid Meijer

First Secretary Food Security and Water at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Benin
Summary
Sigrid Meijer is a Non-Western Sociology MSc. holder with over 26 years of experience in providing advisory services to both public and private organizations in the realms of rural socio-economic development across Africa, Latin-America, and Eastern Europe. With a decade-long managerial experience, Sigrid excels in areas like management, strategic planning, operational development, monitoring and evaluation of socio-economic programs, public policies formulation, and fostering public-private partnerships.
Over the years, Sigrid has been extensively involved in organizational and institutional development, capacity building, and gender mainstreaming in various sectors including agriculture, SMEs, local governance, and cooperatives. Her expertise also extends to gender mainstreaming and women's economic empowerment in value chains, agriculture, and local economic development.
Sigrid's proficiency spans across the acquisition, planning, and management of advisory services focusing on economic growth and employment creation programs in diverse sectors like dairy, tourism, food processing, vocational training, and MSME development. She is adept at identifying, adapting, and disseminating innovative products and services, enhancing value chain development, and sustainable production.
Furthermore, Sigrid is skilled in coordinating with government institutions, donor agencies, and various organizations to ensure streamlined operations and effective collaboration towards a common goal. She also possesses a solid track record in managing offices, projects, and programs encompassing HR management, financial administration, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
Sigrid Meijer's educational background includes studying Non-Western Sociology at Leiden University, with additional studies in Grammar school at GGC and Post-graduate Architecture at Ecole d´Architecture/CRATerre. Her professional journey showcases a diverse array of roles in organizations like the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Benin, SNV, Swisscontact, GIZ, FAO, among others, where she has contributed significantly as a Project Manager, Programme Manager, Gender Advisor, Consultant, and Expert in fields related to gender, economic development, market access, and inclusive growth.