Anudari Achitsaikhan

About Me

Anudari Achitsaikhan at the Palais des Nations, Geneva

I am Anudari Achitsaikhan, a New York-based food systems researcher and evaluation specialist working at the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, and climate resilience. My field experience ranges from studying smallholder drought adaptation in Indonesia to working at an aquaponics greenhouse in the Netherlands and investigating climate-induced migration and food security in Mongolia.

Educated at McGill University, Utrecht University, and the University of Edinburgh, I spent my early career across UN agencies including FAO, UNOSAT, and UNEP, where I built monitoring architecture and evaluation systems for global programs. As a Mongolian-American, I combine institutional research with a grounded commitment to local contexts, ensuring data systems remain directly answerable to the communities they serve.

Focus Areas

Food Systems & Agriculture

I combine policy research with hands-on agricultural experience across food systems, nutrition, and climate resilience. At FAO, I synthesized project outcomes across agricultural productivity, soil health, and food security to communicate results to donors and governments. My field research and work in community-based growing reinforce that urban agriculture and local food initiatives succeed only when designed around local context and community participation.

Project Coordination & Management

I’ve managed multi-country initiatives across the UN system, coordinating between government ministries, donor agencies, and technical specialists. My approach centers on keeping complex, distributed programs structured and on schedule through clear communication, standardized workflows, and disciplined tracking across multi-stakeholder portfolios.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Research

My M&E work focuses on building measurement architecture that turns field evidence into actionable guidance. I design theories of change, logical frameworks, SMART indicators, and Power BI dashboards, pairing quantitative survey analysis with qualitative field interviews to ensure metrics reflect on-the-ground reality.

Capacity Development & Community

I design and facilitate targeted training across diverse audiences, ranging from results-based management workshops for national officials to grassroots community programs. Across all roles, my focus is converting complex technical standards, e-learning content, and M&E guidance into accessible, practical tools for colleagues and field partners.

Experience

UN & International Organizations

Project Analyst & Reporting Specialist

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · Aug 2023 – Sep 2025 · Remote

Produced donor-facing terminal reports for completed agricultural and climate resilience projects across 10+ countries, synthesizing technical data, outcomes, and lessons learned into clear, results-based narratives.
Coordinated with FAO country offices, technical divisions, and project teams to ensure findings were accurately captured and aligned with donor requirements and FAO quality standards.
Developed project highlight sheets to enhance visibility and dissemination of results to resource partners and governments.
Thematic areas included climate-smart agriculture, soil health management, gender-responsive planning, integrated pest management, and farmer capacity development across Africa and the Near East.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Specialist

United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) / UNITAR · Dec 2019 – Jun 2023 · Geneva, Switzerland

Served as M&E lead for multi-country capacity development and geospatial mapping projects focused on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction across Africa and the Asia-Pacific.
Designed and maintained project frameworks, theories of change, logical frameworks, and SMART indicators, while managing data collection, beneficiary surveys, and partner reporting.
Built and maintained dashboards in Excel and Power BI to track project indicators and visualize results for quarterly and annual donor reporting.
Key projects: CommonSensing (£2M, UK Space Agency) in Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands; NORAD Programme ($1.5M USD) across eight countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
Served as UNOSAT's Gender Focal Point: conducted gender analyses, organized webinars, and made recommendations to ensure equitable participation across activities.
Facilitated results-based management (RBM) trainings for government officials and partner staff, and authored case studies and impact stories published on the UNOSAT/UNITAR website.

Planning, Performance Monitoring & Evaluation Trainee

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) · May 2019 – Nov 2019 · Geneva, Switzerland

Coordinated baseline, midline, and endline evaluations across UNITAR's seven divisions, overseeing timelines, deliverables, and compliance with the organization's M&E policy.
Developed M&E plans, results frameworks, logframes, and SMART indicators for Global Environment Facility (GEF) and World Bank proposals.
Created guidance materials and best-practice documents for the organizational intranet, standardizing M&E approaches across divisions.
Contributed to the design and delivery of an e-learning course on evaluation methods for tracking SDG progress.

Programme Intern

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) · Oct 2017 – Apr 2018 · Osaka, Japan

Assisted in the design of Green Climate Fund (GCF) proposals on climate resilience and waste-to-energy, including research on waste management frameworks and GHG emissions in Mongolia.
Conducted a final project evaluation using OECD-DAC criteria, informing future programme design.

Environmental Affairs Intern

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) · Mar 2015 – Jul 2015 · Bangkok, Thailand

Contributed to flagship environmental reports and wrote case studies on natural capital, energy reform, water management in the Mekong, and deforestation in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Supported preparation of high-level meetings, including the 2015 Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development.

Academic Field Research

Master's Thesis Researcher: Food Security, Migration & Climate Change

GerHub NGO / University of Edinburgh · Feb 2024 – Mar 2025 · Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Conducted mixed-methods research on the relationship between climate-induced rural-to-urban migration and food security among households in Ulaanbaatar's informal ger districts.
Partnered with local NGO GerHub to facilitate focus group discussions with migrant mothers, alongside key informant interviews with sub-district government officials.
Analyzed UNICEF MICS household survey datasets using SPSS, comparing food insecurity indicators and dietary diversity by dwelling type across three survey years.
Key finding: households in ger areas were significantly more food insecure and consumed fewer fruits and vegetables, with over 22% reporting going an entire day without food.
Findings provided direct recommendations to GerHub on expanding their community garden program to include adults, broadening its impact on household nutrition.

Field Researcher: El Niño, Water Scarcity & Smallholder Farmer Livelihoods

Yayasan Konservasi Sawah Bali · Mar 2017 – Jun 2017 · Bali, Indonesia

Conducted master's thesis research on the impacts of the 2015–16 El Niño drought on rice production and smallholder farmer livelihoods across six villages.
Collected qualitative and quantitative data through 60+ interviews with farmers, local government officials, NGO staff, and agricultural extension officers.
Compared outcomes for farmers using conventional chemical inputs versus agroecological methods. Findings showed that organic and SRI farmers experienced lower losses and greater resilience during the drought.
Contributed to planting and harvesting activities at Sawah Bali's pilot project site in Ubud.

Volunteer & Community Work

Visiting Researcher & Community Garden Volunteer

GerHub NGO · Feb 2024 – Mar 2025 · Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Supported GerHub's community garden initiative in Ulaanbaatar's ger districts, aimed at improving nutrition and food self-sufficiency among residents of the city's informal settlements.
Germinated seeds and contributed to hands-on preparation and activity planning for the garden site.
Authored a funding proposal to Germany's IKI Climate Fund to support the project's expansion, including a greenhouse, composting station, and age-appropriate workshops for children, teens, and adults covering gardening, nutrition, and small-scale entrepreneurship.

Aquaponics Greenhouse Farmer

Mediamatic · May 2018 – Sep 2018 · Amsterdam, Netherlands

Worked in Mediamatic's experimental aquaponics greenhouse integrating fish cultivation and plant production in a closed-loop, chemical-free ecosystem.
Daily responsibilities included system maintenance, water quality testing (pH, nitrogen, ammonia), seedling propagation, planting, and harvesting.
Researched suitable crops for polyculture systems, identified potential nutrient deficiencies, and explored organic pest management strategies.

Field Worker: Humanitarian Aid

Dråpen i Havet · Apr 2016 – Jun 2016 · Athens, Greece & Aegean Islands

Assisted with food preparation and distribution at official and unofficial refugee camps in Lesvos, Chios, and Athens.
Identified vulnerable families with children and distributed care packages; organized donation stockrooms and supported children's informal classes and activities.

WWOOF Volunteer: Sustainable Farming & Community Development

SAE LAO Project · Jan 2015 – Feb 2015 · Vang Vieng, Lao PDR

Worked alongside local community members in Nhakong Village on farming activities and livestock care.
Taught English to children of the Hmong ethnic minority tribe; participated in sustainable building projects including mud brick construction and biogas system maintenance.

Education

MSc Global Food Security and Nutrition

The University of Edinburgh · 2021–2024 · Remote / Part-time

Completed part-time alongside full-time work to deepen technical specialization in food systems, nutrition policy, and quantitative analysis. Thesis focused on climate-induced migration and household food insecurity in Ulaanbaatar. (Full details in the Field Research section.)

MSc Sustainable Development

Utrecht University · 2015–2017 · Utrecht, Netherlands

Built the foundation for my research methodology and field-based work. Included three months of field research in Bali studying smallholder drought resilience, alongside a research semester evaluating humanitarian aid delivery in refugee camps across Greece and Turkey.

BA International Development

McGill University · 2009–2013 · Montreal, Canada

Provided a strong grounding in development theory, global systems, and political economy.

Working with Data

A Note on My Approach to Data

My work with data centers on turning both qualitative field insights and quantitative metrics into actionable guidance. Across my career, I have conducted qualitative farmer interviews in Indonesia, constructed monitoring dashboards for multi-country UN programs, and analyzed household survey datasets for my master's thesis. I prioritize disaggregated metrics to ensure data brings specific disparities to light rather than obscuring them behind high-level averages.

To complement my foundation in SPSS and Power BI, I am expanding my technical capabilities into SQL and Python, applying these tools to streamline analysis, evaluate complex programs, and ground strategy in reliable evidence.

Tools & Methods

Practiced in Professional & Research Contexts

Excel (Advanced) Dashboards, indicator tracking, data cleaning, and reporting for UN projects spanning multiple countries and partners.

Power BI Built monitoring dashboards for the NORAD program ($1.5M USD, 8 countries), integrating Microsoft Forms survey data for real-time reporting.

SPSS Analyzed UNICEF MICS household survey datasets for master's thesis, including food insecurity indicators, dietary diversity, dwelling-type comparisons, and statistical significance testing.

MAXQDA Qualitative data coding, thematic analysis, and interview synthesis.

Survey Design SurveyMonkey and Microsoft Forms for beneficiary surveys, alongside field questionnaire design for Indonesia and Mongolia fieldwork.

Mixed-Methods Research Designed and executed studies combining quantitative datasets with qualitative focus groups and key informant interviews.

Foundational Courses Completed (Certificates Available)

SQL Completed structured coursework in SQL querying, database logic, and data retrieval.

Python Completed foundational Python course covering data structures, basic scripting, and introductory data analysis.

Other Tools

QGIS / Elementary. Exposure through UNOSAT work on geospatial projects. Canva / Professional-level. Communications materials, presentations, visual reporting. SharePoint / Microsoft Teams / Project knowledge management and team coordination. Adobe Creative Suite / Basic.