She brings over 15 years of research experience in development challenges in agriculture and water management in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Her main experience centers around developing and implementing water solutions to improve agricultural water management in farmer-led, small, medium and large scale irrigation and rainfed systems. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, she was a Senior Agricultural Water Management Specialist at the International Water Management Institute and led a Global Team on Sustainable and Resilient Food Production Systems. Petra worked at the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance; National University of Singapore; Africa Rice Center, Cotonou, Benin; Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim, Germany; and Arcadis, Belgium.