Areas of specialization

(Expand for a sample of topics covered.)

    • Policy/Analysis: policy pathways to address power dynamics in global food systems, farmer-led food systems, city-wide food-system profiles

    • Production: coffee, cacao, spices and honey value chains; dryland farming; sustainable aquatic food systems

    • Livelihoods: fair trade, farmer business schools, improved market access through women’s cooperatives, community agri-vet entrepreneur training

    • Backyard/rooftop gardening in urban poor neighborhoods

    • Obesity in small-island developing states, analysis and policy recommendations

    • Democratizing diverse, healthy diets

    • Potential of neglected and underutilized species to improve nutrition in regional contexts

    • Food fraud and in fisheries and aquaculture

    • How to apply the 2-step HACCP process

    • Marine biotoxins and HABs monitoring

    • Improving food safety for poor communities in Dhaka

    • El Niño preparedness and response in South America

    • Access to climate finance in the NENA region

    • Citizen science in mangrove research and restoration

    • Supporting climate-change management and reducing deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa

    • Values-based, holistic community development

    • Formation and strengthening of local organizations, cooperatives and self-help groups in rural communities

    • Developing inclusive rural/peri-urban/urban market linkages

    • Financial inclusion for rural communities, leveraging digital technologies and public/private sector alliances

    • Communication for development: rural radio, community-led connectivity initiatives, digital inclusion for rural women

    • Rural women’s agricultural cooperatives: establishment, strengthening and market linkage

    • Key areas in SDG implementation for gender equality and women’s empowerment

    • National rural-sector gender assessment

    • Women’s leadership in climate-resilient agriculture

    • (Fisheries) Women in small-scale fisheries: innovations and success stories

    • Education: innovations, community-based, non-formal

    • Women: potential, empowerment, challenges

    • Innovative financial mechanisms for rural and other underserved populations

    • Rural, peri-urban and urban small-scale, community- or neighborhood-led development processes

A look into my work

EDITING

Selected edited publications

HLPE. 2025.Building resilient food systems. Rome, FAO.

Percy, R., Christensen, I., Safa Barraza, A., Berthelin, L. 2022. Gender, agrifood value chains and climate-resilient agriculture in Small Island Developing States. Rome, FAO.

FAO, IOC-UNESCO and IAEA. 2026.Joint FAO/IOC-UNESCO/IAEA guidance on monitoring of algal toxins in bivalve molluscs – Including monitoring of harmful algae and management of harvesting and production areas. Food Safety and Quality Series, No. 34. Rome

“Your work is excellent and so is the communication with you. We are very happy with your work and the best way to know this is that you are always the first editor we contact when we need one.”
Ana Pizarro, Project Officer, FAO

iNTERPRETATION

  • Four-day internal workshop on foundational values and facilitating their practice within the organization (in person, Dakar, Senegal)

  • Meeting of cross-regional working group on equity and inclusion (virtual)

  • Internal training on an automated counterterrorism screening system (virtual)

  • Meeting of food-systems self-assessment working group (virtual)

  • Meeting of GIS community of practice (virtual)

  • Presentation of digital asset management system (virtual)

  • MELS working-group meeting (virtual)

  • Presentation of revised employee communications policy (virtual)

  • Report on findings and recommendations of indirect multiplier field research (virtual)

  • Global internal organizational transformation reflection meeting series (virtual)

  • Six-day workshop on holistic land management (in-person, Little Rock, Arkansas)

Recent interpretation events:

Interpreting at holistic land-management workshop, Little Rock, Arkansas.

“I have had the pleasure of working with (Dianne) in several settings, including Zoom meetings, global workshops, virtual sessions, and, most recently, an in-person program in Senegal… She was especially proactive in supporting participants who needed additional language assistance, ensuring they remained fully included in the conversations and activities.”

Jacqueline Munene, Global Talent Development Director, Heifer International

TRANSLATION

  • Facilitation capability self-assessment form

  • Individual growth reflection tool

  • Proposal for support system for organizational culture community of practice

  • Progress report for sustainable rural sanitation project

  • Annual report, country cooperation program for children and youth

  • Progress report, WASH program for rural populations

  • Beneficiary story, nutritional support program for children under five

  • Series of project fact sheets (including: climate-smart family farming; production and marketing of kañiwa and tarwi; climate resilience in small-scale livestock farming, climate adaptation for Andean potato production)

Selected translations

Spanish to English Translation: European Commission, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, Schloenvoigt, A., 2022. Climate Vulnerability and Risks in the Agriculture Sector of Latin America, (Series of Technical Documents EUROCLIMA+, n.06).

“Ms. Berest made a wonderful work with the thesis manuscript. She did not only provide translations to (…) academic English, she also provided recommendations to the thesis author on ways to present the content more effectively and clearly.”

Karl-Johan Lindholm, Professor, Uppsala University