isabelle tsakok

Citizenship
	United States of America Republic of Mauritius
Education
	Ph.D Economics, Harvard University, 1976. M.A. in Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1973. M.Sc. Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1971. B.A.Phil/Econ, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1970. Successfully completed ESOL training given by the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) (April 2007)
Languages
	English, French (Fluent). Spanish (Intermediate). Chinese (Hakka dialect, mother tongue; intermediate Putonghua or Mandarin, Chinese Official Language).
area of specialty
	Economist with special emphasis on policy, marketing and trade, and on institutional environment for agriculture, agro-business and rural development in open, market-oriented, and transition economies.
Experience
	Policy- and Action-Oriented Reports. World Bank Senior Economist •Reaching the Rural Poor in the Latin America and Caribbean Region: Rural Development Strategy for the Latin America and Caribbean Region (July 2002). Report used as a guide to operational work in the region at the World Bank. •Kingdom of Morocco: Rural Development Strategy (1997). Report incorporated in the Government of Morocco's official agriculture and rural strategy (1999). Kingdom of Morocco: Agro-industrial Development—Constraints and Opportunities (1994). Report used to develop operations for the development of specific commodities. (English and French Versions) •Mexico Land Policy (2001); Nicaragua: Agriculture Sector Policy Note (2002); Venezuela: Public Sector Policies and Their Impact (2002); Uganda: Strategic Export Promotion (2002). These reports were discussed with the relevant governments (except in the case of Venezuela).
	Policy Adjustment Operations World Bank Senior Economist •Kingdom of Morocco: Agriculture Sector Adjustment Loan II (Supervision, 1990/91). Liberalization of marketing and trade in strategic commodities. Kingdom of Morocco: Agricultural Sector Investment Loan (1991). Report developed price liberalization and policy conditionalities for Government and Bank support. •Ghana Structural Adjustment Loan (Reform of cocoa pricing policy, and COCOBOD, the cocoa parastatal, 1986/87). •Nigeria Trade and Investment Policy Loan (Reform of policy on marketing and trade of major agricultural inputs and outputs, 1987/88).
	Project Preparation and Appraisal World Bank Senior Economist and Consultant •Morocco Support for the Government's Plan Maroc Vert (2008) – World Bank Identification Mission (March/April 2009) •Morocco Emergency Drought Recovery Project (Appraisal, 1995/96). •Nigeria Tree Crops Project (Appraisal, 1987/88). •Ghana Agricultural Services Rehabilitation Project (Appraisal, 1986/87). Project completed. Enabled substantial rehabilitation of agricultural extension services.
	Training seminars at the World Bank and elsewhere •Agricultural Price Policy Analysis at the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University, Beijing, the People's Republic of China (Fall 2005. Summer 2010) •National and Sub-National Rural Strategies: workshop on the formulation, dissemination, and implementation (2004-2005) •Global Learning Network Series on rural development strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean Region (2004) •Training courses on economics for support staff at the World Bank (1980-86). •Training courses on agricultural price, marketing and trade policy for economists at the World Bank (1981-85, 1991-92).
	Background Studies •Kingdom of Morocco: Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture (December 2008 – 2009) •Kingdom of Morocco: Agriculture Sector Review—Towards an Agenda for Promoting Rural Growth and Wellbeing (December 2008 – 2009) •Kingdom of Morocco: Cereals Market Reform – Farine Nationale de Ble Tendre (FNBT) – Report on Preliminary Findings of World Bank Mission (2005-2006) •National and Sub-National Rural Development Strategy: Conceptual Framework and Miscellaneous Training Materials (2004-2005) •Iraq: Agricultural and Rural Policy issues including options for the FY 2004 agricultural subsidy budget •Case Studies in Direct Income Support in Turkey and Mexico and of no subsidies in New Zealand (2003). •Mozambique: Agricultural Development Strategy – Stimulating Smallholder Agricultural Growth (2005-2006) •Mozambique: A Road Map for Developing a Rural Strategy (2003). •Tunisia: Rural Development and Poverty Reduction—Evaluation of World Bank Assistance from 1990 (2003) •Natural Resource Management Portfolio in the Latin America and Caribbean Region: A Selective Review of the 1990-99 Portfolio (2002), the World Bank, a Knowledge Dissemination Note of the Latin America and the Caribbean Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development. Used by Bank management and staff to learn from a synthesis of lessons from past operations in natural resource management. •Bangladesh Rural Development Strategy (1998). •Mali: Rural Development Strategy Note: Key issues and areas requiring further analysis (1996/97). •Tunisie: L'Agriculture a l' approche du 21 e siecle—identification de certains problemes strategiques (1989). This paper which identifies strategic issues for Tunisian agriculture to address in this century was presented at a seminar organized by the government to discuss the 8^th Plan. It was used as an input in the preparation of the 8^th Plan. •Kingdom of Morocco: Agricultural Taxation (1989/90). Paper requested by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Morocco. •Algeria: Agricultural Prices and Incentives Study (1989/90). •Ghana and Guinea Bissau: Agricultural Expenditure Reviews (1988/89).
accomplishments
	Success in Agricultural Transformation: What it Means and What Makes it Happen (Cambridge University Press, August 2011). Agricultural Price Policy: A Practitioner's Guide to Partial-Equilibrium Analysis, Cornell University Press (1990). Chinese edition, translated by Guangdong Management Institute of the People's Republic of China (1995). Risk Management in Liberalizing Economies: Issues of Access to Food and Agricultural Futures and Options Markets. Technical Report No. 12220, 1993, ECA, North Africa and the Middle East Region, World Bank. Workshop in Paris on these issues in collaboration with USAID, EU, and private business (1994). EXACTION, a Policy Simulation Game, in collaboration with Professor Graham Chapman (who has the copyrights, 1984). This has been used in training seminars for development practitioners, and university students. Papers on various aspects of agricultural price and trade policy presented in seminars in Khartoum, Sudan (1990), Trinidad (1991), Guangdong Management Institute, the People's Republic of China (1994). Finance Versus Investment in Public Goods and Services—Questions raised on what matters most to smallholders. Presentation made at the International Forum on Reform and Development of China Rural Finance, organized by the Anhui University of Finance and Economics, 7-8 August, 2010. Huangshan City. Paper translated in Chinese and published in Economic Theory and Business Management, December 16, 2010: 27-31. The Export of Manpower from Pakistan to the Middle East, 1975-1985, in Pakistan's Development Priorities—Choices for the Future, edited by Shahid Javed Burki and Robert Laporte, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 1984. Inflation Control in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1974, in World Development, Vol. 7, Pergamon Press Ltd., 1979.