Peter Saling has 14 years of experience designing, leading, and managing programs to increase incomes through agriculture-based livelihoods. His expertise spans from expanding climate resilient livelihoods for marginalized and disadvantaged populations to increasing affordable access to financing for catalyzing enterprise growth. Saling has designed climate smart agriculture, economic development, and financial sector strengthening programs in more than a dozen countries across sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He has worked with governments, the private sector, cooperatives and associations, and civil society to link agricultural producers and small businesses to markets, while also designing innovations to engage young people in agriculture and increase earning opportunities for smallholder farmers.
Peter Saling currently leads Abt’s Food Security and Livelihoods portfolio as part of the Resilient Economies team. He engages USAID and other funders in programs that increase economic opportunity for poor and marginalized communities and engages the private sector in investments that strengthen the market system.
Prior to joining Abt, Saling’s diverse career covered agriculture, economic growth, and financial systems. He designed and led successful programs to link young entrepreneurs in Senegal to affordable business development services, diversify agriculture production and marketing for small- and medium-sized farmers in Malawi, and strengthen credit systems for Albanian borrowers. He has supported projects funded by USAID, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. State Department in more than 20 countries.
Expertise
- Market Systems Development
- Agriculture Production Systems
- Enterprise Development
- Entrepreneurship
- Financial Sector Strengthening
Key Projects
- Bangladesh Nutrition Activity
- Resilience in Northern Ghana (RING) II
Education
- Master of Public Policy, University of Michigan
- Bachelor of Arts, Michigan State University