Ayako comes from an international development background and she previously worked as a country officer at Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Before Meros she was senior consultant at Promar Consulting, where her key roles included working with the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture on food value chains and investment opportunities for Japanese companies in East Africa, extensive work with Norway on Asian seafood market development and consulting for JICA on agricultural trends in 50 countries.

Precision is key in Ayako’s philosophy and naturally triggered her interest in precision agriculture technologies and their impact on global farming. Influenced by the recent technological trends in the agribusiness industry, her long-term interest in gardening got a new perspective and she is thinking of experimenting with a hydroponic growing system in the future.

Ayako has a master’s degree in Social Anthropology from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and is bilingual in Japanese and English.