Mayra Esseboom serves as a Researcher at the Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname (CELOS). She earned her MSc in Agricultural Economics from Wageningen University in 1999. Over the years, she has been affiliated with various international organizations focused on agricultural, forestry, and development issues, including GEF-UNDP, IICA, and FAO. For nearly two decades, she has been engaged as a researcher in the Forest Management department at CELOS. Her primary research interests lie in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), where she investigates their commercialization and marketing, the preservation of traditional knowledge, and community development. Esseboom has authored popular and scientific articles and offers guidance to policymakers. In 2023, she was chosen for the Fulbright Amazonia program, where her research focused on the bioeconomy of the açaí sector in Suriname, collaborating with the University of Brasilia, the University of Florida, local NGOs, and community-based organizations from maroon communities (Afro-Surinamese communities, originally populated and run by people who had freed themselves from slavery).
Mayra Esseboom
Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname (CELOS) (Surinam)
Mayra Esseboom serves as a Researcher at the Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname (CELOS). She earned her MSc in Agricultural Economics from Wageningen University in 1999. Over the years, she has been affiliated with various international organizations focused on agricultural, forestry, and development issues, including GEF-UNDP, IICA, and FAO. For nearly two decades, she has been engaged as a researcher in the Forest Management department at CELOS. Her primary research interests lie in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), where she investigates their commercialization and marketing, the preservation of traditional knowledge, and community development. Esseboom has authored popular and scientific articles and offers guidance to policymakers. In 2023, she was chosen for the Fulbright Amazonia program, where her research focused on the bioeconomy of the açaí sector in Suriname, collaborating with the University of Brasilia, the University of Florida, local NGOs, and community-based organizations from maroon communities (Afro-Surinamese communities, originally populated and run by people who had freed themselves from slavery).