J (Jia) Ni

Jia Ni is a sandwitch PhD candidate in Social Science Group of WUR, with the research topic on Agri-product e-commerce and its impacts on rural development. Before joining WUR, he worked five years (2016-2020) in FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) on the area of Sustainable Urban Food Systems, and five years (2010-2015) in CAAS (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) as a project officer and research assistant. Jia got his master degree in GSCAAS (Graduate School of CAAS, Beijing, China) and bachelor degree in Nankai University (Tianjin, China).

2018.02 –2020.08: Food Systems Consultant/APO, FAO, Italy

1. Partnership development and Resource mobilization, to link more public and private partners with FAO led projects, activities, training workshops, etc. 

2. Capacity building to support stakeholders in Africa and Asia to develop integrated food policy and implementation into urban planning in the relevant regions.

3. Manage Food for Cities Dgroups (+3700 members from +130 countries), and prepare academic articles on urban food systems, such as COVID-19 impacts and how to respond.

4. Policy and information/data analysis, such as sustainable and resilient urban food systems, Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture, rice-maize based crop system, the link of food production with food supply, nutrition, livelihood, income, employment, etc., in the context of multi-stakeholder involved local food systems.

5. City Region Food Systems programme implementation and management, sustainable mechanization project up-scale in Africa and Asia, UPA programme development in the global south.

2014.11–2017.12: Visiting Scientist/Consultant, FAO, Italy

1. Provide support to strengthen urban-rural linkages for a more vibrant local and small scale agriculture. Provide support to countries to establish sustainable urban food systems..

2. Provide support to establish a regional resource center on City Region Food Systems and sustainable production intensification through city-city network.

3. Promote partnership between FAO and public sectors/international organizations.

4. Encourage more young professionals to proactively contributing to innovative agricultural development.

2010.07–2017.12: Assistant Professor, Institute of Agriculture Economics and Development/General Office, CAAS (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences), Beijing, China

1. Research on rural-urban linkage, international food trade, as well as sustainable development of urban food system in Chinese mega-cities and big cities.

2. Provide support to improve the cooperation between CAAS and African countries through China-FAO South-South Cooperation.

3. Develop strategies, work plans, and regulations for domestic cooperation of CAAS.

4. Organize several international and academic conferences on food security, mushroom development, plant protection.