Dr. Klaus Heider has been Director-General for Rural Development and Digital Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture since March 2019. Previously, he was head of the Minister's Office and Political Staff from 2009 - 2014 and Director-General for Food and Nutrition Policy, Product Safety and Innovation from spring 2014. Klaus Heider began working for the then Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry in 2001, following his degree in geodesy at the University of Bonn, a master's degree in urban and regional planning at Ohio State University (USA) and post-graduate civil service training in the Düsseldorf city administration.