Ailsa Buckley

Advisor Inclusive Economic Development

Products & Solutions


Field experience
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe

Focus areas

  • Private Sector Development
  • Project design, management and implementation.
  • Systemic development approaches.
  • Capacity development for systems development
  • Designing and delivering training and mentoring

Reference projects

2019 - 2024
Nepal, Ruanda, Etiopía
Agricultura sostenible
Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (Inglés)
The project aims to involve smallholder farmer businesses sustainably in agricultural value chains, thereby improving their living conditions and economic situation. By building inclusive agricultural systems, smallholder farmers will have improved access to markets, information, and means of production. Additionally, the project emphasizes...
2015 - 2021
Uganda
Agricultura sostenible
Para una agricultura competitiva (ing)
Uganda is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, but growth constraints remain high, particularly in the north. Uganda is on target to meet its first Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. However, under-nutrition and poverty are still prevalent throughout the country and with one of the highest population...
2018 - 2022
Ruanda
Agricultura sostenible
Mejorando los Sistemas de Mercado para la Agricultura en Ruanda
Improving Market Systems for Agriculture in Rwanda (IMSAR) helps commercialise agriculture by improving the way agricultural market systems function, making them more effective, participatory (by including poor farmers and other disadvantaged groups) and more competitive.Rwanda is currently going through a transformation process and the...
2017 - 2020
Mozambique
Agricultura sostenible
Programa de seguridad alimentaria mediante la producción agrícola resistente al cambio climático(ing)
The FAR Programme aims to create sustainable climate-smart agricultural solutions for households in Mozambique who often face challenges of food security due to harsh climatic conditions brought about by sporadic climatic changes.Mozambique is a country at high risk from climate change affected by increasingly unpredictable rainfall, droughts as...
  • Strategic and technical ISD assistance to FCDO’s Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) Programme in Uganda, Malawi and Nepal and expansion into Rwanda and Ethiopia.
  • Support to DFID’s Transforming the Economy through Climate Smart Agribusiness (NUTEC) program in Uganda and Inclusive Markets for Sustainable Agriculture (IMSAR) in Rwanda, including ongoing training of teams in ISD.
  • Strategic and technical assistance to SIDA’s Food security through climate Adaptation and Resilience (FAR) Program in Mozambique and SDC’s Horti Sempre Project in Mozambique.
  • Provision of ISD expertise to the GRM-led Livelihoods and Food Security Program in Zimbabwe.
  • Development and management of an Export Capability Programme for TradeMark EA focusing on increased trade for the landlocked countries in coffee, staples and tourism.
  • Training of 40 TMEA East Africa staff in Market Systems Development.
  • Delivered commercial training in PMSD in India and Kenya; delivered capacity development training for PAC in the UK and Zimbabwe; facilitated a PAC African markets summit on MSD innovation.
  • Developed 'learning from practice' knowledge products, case studies and training resources for Practical Action's PMSD Roadmap (pmsdroadmap.org).
  • Facilitated the Practical Action Markets Forum to share lessons, successes and challenges in MSD.
  • Delivered an MSD virtual training program for Habitat for Humanity for staff across Latin America in the housing sector.
  • Developed an MSD framework for EUEI-PDF for the development of energy projects; developed 'learning from practice' knowledge products.
  • Developed training in participatory market systems development (PMSD) and emergency market mapping analysis (EMMA); and delivered commercial training/mentoring packages to EA-based clients.
  • Provided global MSD training for 40+ Christian Aid country directors and mentoring for country offices.
  • Developed a market facilitator's manual for program replication for Land O Lakes: Led an evaluation of the 5-year VCD Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Program and developed and populated a toolkit to enable market facilitators to upscale and replicate the initiative.
  • Provided technical inputs to ILO VCD projects in Somalia: Led market development inputs across 2 projects in Somaliland and S Central in fodder for livestock and the feeder value chain of light engineering.