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Dr Zeremariam Fre
Associate Professor (Teaching)
Development Planning Unit
Faculty of the Built Environment
- Joined UCL
- 1st Jul 2006
Research summary
I have worked in 13 countries mostly in the Horn of Africa, East Africa, Far East, Western Europe and South America. My research and teaching stems from my work experience in development planning, dry land agriculture, land use policy, food security, urban-peri-urban agriculture, indigenous knowledge systems, role of women in food production and management, NGOs and social movements, project monitoring and evaluation, fund raising/resource mobilization and approaching funders.
Teaching summary
I currently teach the MSc modules, Land, Food and Agriculture (DA8) and the ES9 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture: Knowledge Systems in the Global South. I supervise Masters Dissertations and co-supervise a limited number of PhDs.
Biography
I have been involved in several projects in different International Organisations. Over the past three decades, I have worked on medium /short term consultancies, external evaluations and applied research with a variety of UN, International and national NGOs including: The European Union (EU), Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JICA), European Development Fund (EDF) , Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), Oxfam NOVIB, International Institute Environment and Development (IIED), Oxfam-GB, Catholic Fund For Overseas Development (CAFOD), Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) now Practical Action(PA), Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD) , Intergovernmental Authority for Development(IGAD), UNICEF, Agency for Cooperation Research Development(ACORD) , SOS-Sahel, Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA).
I also undertook FAO/IFAD/EU formulation missions on Livestock and agricultural production systems in Arid and semi-Arid land areas. Conducted drought impact assessment and restocking studies in several countries. Developed integrated agricultural/livestock project design as a strategy for sustainable development. Undertook land tenure cum policy studies, food security studies and project design and led environmental impact assessment studies and conducted mid -term evaluations for EU in several countries of the Horn and East Africa. I have extensive fund-raising experience and raised several millions of dollars for NGOs through negotiations with multiple funders, embassies and other funders.
From 1989 to 2016, I served as the founding director and head of a Regional NGO (the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa, PENHA www.penhanetwork.org) over the last 27 years. I stepped down formally from this position in PENHA at the end of 2016 and now serve as senior advisor to PENHA.PENHA projects have worked and partnered with several countries in the Greater Horn of Africa such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somaliland and Djibouti.