Roelof Kramer has over 20 years of experience in the agribusiness industry with specialisation in production economics, field crop and vegetable seeds, and crop protection. Roelof founded Rectory Farmhouse Limited in 2007 to provide bespoke business consulting services to companies interested in operating, or investing, in agriculture, with a focus on the former Soviet region.

Before moving to the UK, Roelof spent 8 years in Switzerland. In 1998 he joined Novartis Agro in Zurich as a special project manager where he restructured a Ukrainian joint venture specialised in the distribution of crop protection chemicals. He then became regional manager responsible for the marketing and sales of crop protection chemicals in Central Asia and the Caucasian Republics. He closed new supply contracts, negotiated old debts and increased sales and profits by over 100%.

When Novartis Agro merged to form Syngenta Crop Protection, Roelof held a strategic analyst position in the biotechnology group, then joined the global vegetable seeds division as business development and strategic planning manager. He worked closely with managers in the country and corporate matrix organisation to develop and implement new business models, as well as to drive and co-ordinate strategy change including a new five-year business planning process.

Between 1995 and 1997 he was the area manager for Russia for Advanta Seeds in the Netherlands. Supervising a sales team of three he promoted new varieties and negotiated seed supply contracts worth around US$1 million with collective farms and sugar factories.

Roelof speaks English, German, Russian and Dutch. He holds a masters degree in field crop science from the Agricultural University in Wageningen and an International MBA from Nijenrode University, both in the Netherlands. In his spare time he farms a small flock of geese.