Adaptive management enables development projects to be flexible and responsive in the face of change. Drawing on lessons from the Feed the Future DRC Fall Armyworm Activity, which supports small-scale producers in pest management in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venture37 hosted a Borlaug Dialogue webinar on October 19, which provided best practices for establishing and maintaining an adaptive management approach in development projects. Panelists highlighted key considerations for an adaptive management approach, including how the project has utilized data and continuous learning to harness change, and how stakeholders have pivoted and scaled their work. Operating over an area roughly the size of Western Europe, the project was facing considerable challenges in ensuring oversight of dispersed project activities by limited regionally based program staff. Through key adaptations, Venture37 has diversified its approach in favor of one that is more locally driven and impactful. This is improving impact and promoting resilience and sustainability beyond the life of the project.

Featured Panelists

Jamie Leifker
 Keynote Speaker
 VP New Markets and Growth Initiatives;
 WinField United

Jamie Leifker is VP, New Markets and Growth Initiatives for WinField United. WinField United provides farmers with agriculture solutions, products, and services to help them make the right decisions from planning through harvest. Jamie loves agronomy, farming, and the teamwork it invites to achieve continuous improvement and success.  His team is fully committed to generating timely and actionable insights, to help retailers and farmers arrive at a more profitable outcome by understanding the relationship between in season crop inputs response to seed varieties and soil health measurements. His experience in sales, marketing, ag technology, and business development roles fuels the teams’ intent toward delivering meaningful solutions leading to increased ROI supported by input use efficiency, yield, quality, and carbon. Jamie lives in Blaine, Minnesota with his wife Catari and their three boys Jack, Jonah, and Max. 

Moustapha Gaye
Chief of Party, Feed the Future Management of Fall Armyworm (MFAW) in Maize for Smallholder Farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Activity;
 Land O'Lakes Venture37
Moustapha Gaye is the Chief of Party for the Feed the Future Management of Fall Armyworm (MFAW) in Maize for Smallholder Farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Activity. He has over 30 years of international development experience, sixteen of which have been in chief of party roles for large U.S.-government-funded programs. He is experienced in food security; health and nutrition; good governance; community engagement; gender integration; private sector engagement; monitoring, evaluation, and learning; financial management; and environmental compliance. He holds an M.S. degree in agricultural economics from New Mexico State University and an M.S. degree in economics from the University of Dakar, Senegal.

Danielle Niedermaier

About the Borlaug Dialogue