Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Taivalmaa worked as Senior Adviser for Agriculture and Rural Development in Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. She holds a Master’s degree in Agriculture and Forestry from the University of Helsinki. She has also studied tropical agriculture in Universidad de Costa Rica and horticulture in Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. She has dealt with variety of gender issues in agriculture, food security, rural development and relief operations both at policy and field level. She has been responsible for agriculture and rural development projects´ management and technical backstopping in a private consultant company. She has worked with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).