Eric Smaling is a specialist in Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), with a doctorate in the subject from Wageningen University. His extensive international experience includes managing and contributing to development projects in Indonesia, Kenya, and West Africa. He also served as a professor of Soil Science and Sustainable Agriculture at Wageningen University and ITC – University of Twente respectively, supervising doctoral students across Africa and Asia.
From 2007 to 2017, Smaling was a member of the Dutch Parliament for the Socialist Party, serving as both senator and lower house representative. He later led development initiatives for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia and Egypt. Smaling contributed to the development of the Soil Values initiative and also runs the Friends of River Rare Foundation, which works to improve the lives of rural girls and women in Kilifi, Kenya, where his African career began in 1979.