Darko has been with Avalon since 1993. He is an experienced expert (>30 years) with project references in 25 European and 6 Asian countries. Darko has been a team leader and/or consultant at >150 projects for the World Bank, OECD, European Commission, UN agencies (FAO, UNECE, UNDP, and UNEP), USAID, EU MS Governmental organisations, British and EU MS universities, consultancies, and accounting firms. The projects have spanned policy analysis and advice, project/programme evaluations, education, training, and research. His expertise covers a range of cross-cutting issues related to value chain analysis in the agri-food sector, agricultural economics, agricultural policy, rural development, agriculture and the environment, organic farming, and agri-environment.

 

Darko holds a PhD in environmental sciences (University of Essex, UK) and is the first European with an MSc in organic agriculture (1992: Wageningen University, NL). He is the author of more than 140 publications (including a 467-page book). He has been a visiting lecturer/researcher at the British, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, and Bulgarian universities, including 12 years at the Dutch WUR, ranked as the #1 agricultural, #2 environmental sciences, and #1 most sustainable University globally.

 

Darko is a global pioneer in true cost accounting (TCA) for organic farming. Twenty years ago, he developed PURO, a unique TCA methodology enabling comprehensive assessments of the environmental and (macro)economic consequences of (total) conversion to organic farming. His PURO approach was applied in studies commissioned by the FAO, Walloon Minister of Environment, Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the three northern Provinces in the Netherlands.

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