Dr. Axel Schmidt
Dr. Schmidt has served as a senior advisor on agricultural research to CRS since 2010. Previously, he held the position of Regional Director for Central America and the Caribbean for CIAT, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, and worked there for over 15 years on multiple research assignments on topics such as the interface of tropical forages, watershed development and soil research, and the management of integrated production systems combined with participatory approaches.
Axels’ work focuses on the research for development continuum establishing strategic alliances between research and the development sector and responding to knowledge gaps identified by development practitioners. At CRS he is advising on the revitalization of rainfed agriculture systems in Central America, Eastern and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia emphasizing the management of soils as a tool to manage limited water resources under changing climatic conditions. During recent years, Axel focused his work on the development of national capacities in Digital Soil Mapping mainly in Central America.
Axel represents CRS at the Global Soil Partnership since 2013 and is a member of the Council for Tropical and Sub-Tropical Agricultural Research in Germany, the European Geosciences Union, the American Society of Agronomy, and the Soil Science Society of America. He holds a doctorate and master’s degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Hohenheim in Germany.