An agricultural economist, Yacob Aklilu has more than 35 years of experience in agriculture and livestock marketing systems in the Horn of Africa and humanitarian assistance, focusing on practical programming and policy support to international aid donors, NGOs, and African governments and regional organizations. Yacob has worked as a livestock policy adviser at the African Union’s Interafrican Bureau of Animal Resources, and also provided livestock marketing and drought management support to the USAID Pastoralist Livelihoods Initiative in Ethiopia. He also contributed to the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS), and has worked on long-term trend analysis of livelihoods in pastoralist areas of east Africa. He holds an M.Sc. in Marketing and Management, and a B.Sc. in Agriculture, major in Agricultural Economics.