Strategic Secondment on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Quality

In the context of the MoU “Food for All’ signed in 2015 between the World Bank Group and the Netherlands, a strategic secondment of a Senior Advisor Food Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands takes place to the World Bank Agriculture Global Practice. Mr. Wijnand Van IJssel has been selected for this assignment and has started the secondment in September 2016.

The Partnership between the Netherlands and the World Bank Group is primarily targeted at the development and exchange of knowledge and the promotion of innovation. The pillars of the partnership are safe and healthy food systems, inclusive growth in the agricultural sector and ecological sustainable food systems, all in the context of development cooperation.

Mr. Van IJssel’s role will be to strengthen and support implementation of the “Food for All” Partnership between the Bank and the Netherlands. In his new position, Mr. Van IJssel will operate as a dedicated liaison for the Partnership. He is particularly keen to identify and develop synergies with Dutch agriculture institutions and private sector in the creation and exchange of knowledge and the promotion of innovations to strengthen the Bank’s analytical and operational work in agriculture. In practical terms, it is expected that the Partnership could facilitate and provide for learning journeys, short trainings, BBL’s, policy briefs, addressing knowledge questions, as well as enhancing collaboration between the Bank’s agriculture programs and Dutch bilateral country programs, including through public-private partnerships.

An initial area of focus will be the Food Quality agenda, but it is expected that this will evolve over time in response to interest and demands expressed by staff of World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice and of Dutch institutions and companies.

For the past five years, Mr. Van IJssel has been a member of the food security team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, where he was responsible for managing the knowledge and research agenda, including Dutch support to the CGIAR system, the establishment of new food security research funding instruments and the launch of the Food & Business Knowledge Platform. He has also been instrumental in establishing the Dutch policy agenda on global sustainable trade in palm oil, reaching out to stakeholders in the Netherlands, Indonesia, China and the European Union.

Mr. Van IJssel is housed in the World Bank Group Headquarters in Washington DC, and part of the GFA12 department, while his liaison role concerns the entire WBG’s Agriculture Global Practice. He is keen to hear how the “Food for All” Partnership could possibly be put to work for different staff in the WBG’s headquarters, the regional offices, and the respective clients in their work program.

Mr. Van IJssel continues communicating regularly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs and relevant “Diamond” stakeholders in the Netherlands. The Food & Business Knowledge Platform plays a facilitative role to make the Partnership work for both Dutch and WBG actors.

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Please download the Terms of Reference (PDF), for the Strategic Secondment on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Quality, in the context of the WBG-NL Partnership “Food for All”

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