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Text Content

Youth farmer Edelqueen Anyiso’s story of resilience
in growing TAAT-promoted drought-tolerant
maize varieties

Read More

Goodluck Jonathan is the new Africa’s Agricultural
Technology Ambassador for AATF

Read More

OPINION: Smart farming can feed Africa and
grow its wealth- Dr. Canisius Kanangire

Read More

From fields to fortune: How new hybrid rice varieties
are transforming the lives of farmers.
Mr. Mutisya Kariuki, a small-scale farmer from Nderwa village in Kirinyaga
County,
Kenya, has been a rice farmer for the last 20 years. Mutisya, like other farmers
in the
area, relied on a traditional rice variety known as Pishori to feed his
families.

Read More

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 * HOME
 * ABOUT US
   * OUR STRATEGY
   * MISSION & VISION
   * OUR PEOPLE
   * BOARD CHAIR EMERITUS
   * PARTNERSHIPS
   * OUR SPECIAL INITIATIVES
     * ACAT 2023
     * 1STRC 19th Triennial Symposium
     * AHyRA
     * AGRIDRIVE LTD
     * ECOBASIC SEED
     * QBS (QualiBasic Seed)
   * CROSS-CUTTING PRIORITIES
 * OUR PROGRAMMES
 * OUR PROJECTS
   * TELA MAIZE
   * TAAT MAIZE COMPACT
   * TAAT POLICY ENABLER
   * PBR COWPEA Project
   * MLN Project
   * CAMAP Project
   * Seeds2B Project
   * OFAB Project
   * NEWEST PROJECT
   * HYBRID RICE PROJECT
 * INFORMATION HUB
   * AATF IN THE NEWS
   * BLOG
   * MEDIA CENTER
   * RESOURCES
   * IP & BIOSAFETY LAWS
   * JOBS & VACANCIES
   * OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
   * SUCCESS STORIES
   * FAQs
 * CONTACT US




AATF NAMED WINNER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS
2022 AL-SUMAIT PRIZE


AATF WAS ANNOUNCED AS THE JOINT WINNER OF THE 2022 AL-SUMAIT PRIZE FOR AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT FOR
EMPOWERING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ACROSS 24 AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO ACCESS
AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES. THE PRIZE
RECOGNIZES INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES THAT ADVANCE AFRICA’S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT.

Read More

Margaret Shitandi: Growing high-yielding hybrid
maize varieties has helped me to improve my
household income

Read More






WELCOME TO AATF

AATF is a not-for-profit African led organisation that provides farmers in
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with practical technology solutions to overcome farm
productivity constraints.

Founded in 2003, AATF is driven by the vision of a prosperous, resilient, food
and nutrition-secure Africa, where smallholder farmers’ livelihoods are
transformed through agricultural innovations.


OUR PROGRAMMES


PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & DEPLOYMENT

This programme encompasses the upstream functions of the technology development
pipeline, ranging from scouting and access to development (including
trait/agroecological breeding and adaptation). It covers technology
proof-of-concept, feasibility determination through cost-benefit analysis (CBA),
product/variety testing, release and registration, technology demonstrations,
and technical discussions.


SEED SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCT COMMERCIALISATION

This programme centres on facilitating the commercialisation and scaling-up of
products developed through AATF partnership projects. It comprises three crucial
components: firstly, the facilitation of efficient and cost-effective seed
systems to deliver products directly to farmers. Secondly, stewardship support
is provided to ensure the responsible use of these products. And finally, value
chain-specific market development is undertaken to bolster access and adoption.
The programme also encompasses scaling up partner engagement and ensuring
last-mile delivery.


ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

Through this programme, AATF seeks to foster the materialisation of technology
development, release, and commercialisation at both country and regional levels.
This is achieved through collaborative efforts with governments and relevant
organisations for the enactment and implementation of clearly articulated
policies, laws, regulations, guidelines, processes, and institutions. These
efforts are underpinned by political goodwill and the requisite abilities and
resources.

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OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

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Number of total beneficiaries reached (farmers and other stakeholders)
0
Number of Smallholder farmers directly reached
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Number of Market system value chain actors
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Number of Seed companies and agrodealers engaged

0
Number of Metric tonnes of New product seed sold
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Number of Hectares of Land area cultivated with AATF products
0
Number of Countries in Africa with AATF presence/reach/coverage
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Number of farmers that AATF has educated on mechanization


SUCCESS STORIES

Nigeria commercializes GM maize varieties. 

More >



Biotechnology offers hope in delivering potatoes free from devastating late
blight disease

More >

BROWSE MORE


NEWS & UPDATES

Advance tuber crop development for empowerment – Okogbenin 

More >



Empowering women through agricultural technologies-#InspireInclusion-  AATF
Gender Lead Millicent Sedi.

More >

BROWSE MORE


#AATFKIKAO

#AATFKIKAO is an authoritative platform that tackles crucial issues affecting
Africa’s agricultural sector. The Kikao Series presents insightful discussions
led by a panel of experts, delving into a range of topics aligned with AATF’s
key operational areas.

They encompass fostering an environment conducive to technology adoption;
driving the commercialization of technology (agribusiness) to enhance African
agriculture; promoting mechanization and digital agriculture; addressing
nutrition concerns; and implementing effective post-harvest management
practices.

Catch it on NTV Kenya every Wednesday at 7.30 pm EAT. On-demand episodes are
available on the AATF YouTube page.

Play Video


PAST & CURRENT INVESTORS




CALL US TODAY
254-20 422 3700

NAIROBI, KENYA
Naivasha Rd

EMAIL
aatf@aatf-africa.org


QUICK LINKS

About Us
Our Achievements
Our Projects
Information Hub
IP & BIOSAFETY LAWS
JOBS & VACANCIES
FAQs

        


PROGRAMMES

Farm Productivity
Market Systems for Commercialisation
Mechanisation and Digital Agriculture
Nutrition, Food Quality and Post-harvest Management
Policy Environment and Public Participation



KENYA OFFICE

 *   Naivasha Rd, Nairobi
 *   Kenya : 254-20 422 3700
 *   Via US : Tel : 1 650 833 666
 *   aatf@aatf-africa.org
 *   P.O. Box 30709-00100 Nairobi, Kenya


NIGERIA OFFICE

 *   4th Floor, Bank of Agriculture building, 162 Independence Avenue, Central
   Business District Abuja, Nigeria.
 *   Telephone : +234 9 4605480
 *   aatf@aatf-africa.org

© Copyright AATF 2024.
Dahlia Garwe

Dahlia Garwe
Member, Board of Trustees

Dahlia holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cape Town and an
MSc degree in Biotechnology from the University of Zimbabwe as well as a BSc
(Hon) degree in Biochemistry from the same University. Additionally, she has
completed an Executive Diploma in Business Leadership.

Dahlia is currently the Corporate and Industry Affairs Executive at Tongaat
Hulett. She previously worked at the Tobacco Research Board in various
capacities since 1991. Although her primary qualification is Molecular Biology,
Dahlia has since been exposed to management at senior level and the
implementation of Quality Management Systems.

She is a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. Dahlia joined the Seed Co
Limited Board in February 2011 and also sits on the Boards of a number of
diverse companies and institutions.

×
Dr. Canisius Kanangire

Dr. Canisius Kanangire
Executive Director

Dr. Canisius Kanangire joins AATF from the African Ministers’ Council on Water
(AMCOW), a pan-African inter-governmental institution, based in Abuja, Nigeria,
where he served as the Executive Secretary from September 2016.

He holds a PhD and an MSc degree in Aquatic Sciences, with specialization in
Freshwater Ecology, Aquaculture and Wetlands management, both from the
University of Namur, then “Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix
(FUNDP), Namur (Belgium). He also holds a University Degree (Licence) in Biology
with a major in Environmental Sciences and an Undergraduate Certificate
(Graduat) in Biology and Chemistry both from the “Institut Supérieur Pédagogique
de Bukavu,” in D.R. Congo.

Dr. Kanangire has over 35 years experience in leadership roles, having served
previously as the Executive Secretary of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission
(LVBC) between 2011 and 2016 and Regional Manager for Capacity Building, and
Head of Strategic Planning and Management at the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)
between 2004 and 2011. Prior to these international positions, Dr Kanangire
served as a lecturer and Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of
Rwanda and member of the Board of Directors of ISAR, the Rwandan Institute for
Agricultural Research that was restructured to become the current Rwanda
Agricultural Board (RAB).
He is an astute administrator and experienced technocrat with a wealth of
knowledge in leadership and management of international institutions, including
developing strategic partnerships and networks at regional, continental and
global levels. A national of Rwanda, Dr. Kanangire speaks various languages
including English, French, Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda.

 

×
Fatuma Wario

Fatuma Wario
Administrative & Events Coordinator

Fatuma Wario holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the Kenya
Methodist University, a Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management and a
Diploma in Business Administration and Management from Kenya Institute of
Management.

Before, joining AATF she worked with FARM Africa Regional office in Nairobi as
an administrative secretary for seven years, the Catholic Organization for
Relief and Development – AID (CORDAID) for a period of one year and with GTZ for
four years as an administrative assistant. Fatuma is responsible for general
office management, management of transport services, and events organisation
among other administrative duties. She is Kenyan.

×
Shehu Muhammad Dandago

Shehu Muhammad Dandago
Chief Agronomist

Shehu Muhammad Dandago has over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience in
both Industrial, public, private, and International non-governmental (NGO)
organizations as Laboratory Analyst, Research Associate, Food Security, and Seed
System Agronomist in both Emergency and Developmental programming.

He has a master’s degree in Agronomy from Bayero University Kano (BUK) Nigeria,
Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management, and B.Sc. Degree in Applied
Biology. Shehu is a Nigerian national.

×
Shey R. Tata

Shey R. Tata
Member, Board of Trustees

Shey holds a BA in International Relations from Amherst College in
Massachusetts, an MBA in Finance and Management from Yale University School of
Management and a CPA from the University of Maryland USA.

Shey began his professional life working as a Team Leader and Senior Economic
Development Specialist for a Private Public Partnership entity for economic
development in Washington DC. He later joined the World Bank where he worked as
a financial analyst. He later took leave from the World Bank and was appointed
as the Interim Director of Finance for an International Agriculture Research
Association for West Africa.

Shey later returned to the World Bank where he served under different positions
leading teams and advising decision makers in fiduciary management, governance,
institutional and program evaluation, administration, resource mobilization and
outreach in Africa, Asia and the US. In recent times, Shey has also consulted
and provided advice to international development (AfDB and IFAD).

×
Prof. Jennifer Ann Thomson

Prof. Jennifer Ann Thomson
Board Chair Emeritus

Prof. Jennifer Thomson has a BSc in zoology from the University of Cape Town, an
MA in genetics from Cambridge University and a PhD in microbiology from Rhodes
University in South Africa. She was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical
School and spent a sabbatical year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She was a lecturer, senior lecturer and Associate Professor in the Department of
Genetics at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa before starting
and being the Director of the Laboratory for Molecular and Cell Biology for the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. She then became Professor and
Head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Cape Town (UCT), a
post she held for 12 years until the Department merged with the Department of
Biochemistry. She is now Emeritus Professor of Microbiology in the Department of
Molecular and Cell Biology at UCT. Her main current research interests are in
the development of maize resistant to the African endemic maize streak virus
(MSV) and tolerant to drought. The MSV work has been shown in glasshouse trials
to give excellent protection and was the first transgenic crop developed in
Africa, by Africans for an African problem. Other positions held in the past
include the Deputy Dean of Science at UCT, chair and member of the South African
Genetic Engineering Committee, co-founder and chair of SA Women in Science and
Engineering, and Vice-President of the SA Academy of Science. She is a Fellow of
the Royal Society of South Africa and of UCT and Vice-Chair of the board of the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA).
She is a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation which advises the
Minister of Science and Technology and chairs the South African chapter of the
Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World. Honours received
include the L’Oreal/UNESCO prize for Women in Science and an honorary doctorate
from the Sorbonne in Paris. She is a regular writer and speaker internationally
on the subject of genetically modified organisms, especially crops and foods
derived from them. These include addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos
for two successive years, and the United Nations as the guest of Secretary
General Kofi Annan. Her three books, Genes for Africa, Seeds for the Future and
Food for Africa are geared towards the interested layperson.

×
Prof. Maggie Gill

Prof. Maggie Gill
Member, Board of Trustees

Professor Maggie Gill has had a 40-year career in the agri-food sector, split
almost evenly between conducting research, managing research programme funding
and advising research funders, in the UK , New Zealand, European Commission and,
for international development, the World Bank and numerous national
international development departments.

Her original interests were in livestock nutrition (mainly grass-fed sheep and
cattle) but over time those broadened to interests on interactions between
agriculture more generally, with the environment and again food systems and in
the last two decades to the interface between science and policy.

She was the first Chief Scientific Adviser on Rural Affairs and the Environment
in the Scottish Government and currently chairs both the Scottish Science
Advisory Council and BBSRC’s Sustainable Agriculture and Food Strategy Panel.
She was instrumental in creating the Zoonoses from Emerging Livestock Systems
research programme (ZELS Programme Impact Report – UKRI) whilst a Senior
Research Fellow at DFID, was a member of the Sata, Evidence and Science Working
Group of the RSE post-Covid-19 Futures Commission (Home – RSE Post-Covid-19
Futures Commission :RSE Post-Covid-19 Futures Commission
(rsecovidcommission.org.uk) and a member of the Science legacy of Covid Working
Group Working Group of the SSAC (SSAC Report – Building on the Science Legacy of
Covid-19 in Scotland.pdf (scottishscience.org.uk)

She is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Aberdeen, currently living in
rural Aberdeenshire.

×
Joanne Muthie

Joanne Muthie
Digital Communications Officer

Joanne is an experienced Digital Media Specialist with a demonstrated history of
working across integrated communication and marketing agencies in Africa.
Joanne’s love for technology merged with communications has seen her pursue new
skills and technologies in order to more effectively meet client needs towards
business goals.

Joanne is a trained scientist who has honed her skills as an all-rounded digital
communications specialist and brings onboard experience in social media 
strategy and community management, media buying on social media, search engines
as well as local publishers’ engagement, use of influencers, and general digital
partnerships.

Over the last decade, She has worked with Ogilvy Africa through their flagship
360 IMC Agency- Blueprint Africa and Oxygene MCL, a boutique marketing and
communication agency servicing local and international brands such as KRA, KCB
Bank, Safaricom, Radisson Blu, Simba Corp, JCG, Mondelez Africa, Ecobank, and
WWF. Joanne is also passionate about digital media production through creative
design, animations, websites/microsites, and mobile applications’ end-to-end
project management. In addition, she brings insights and knowledge management
through social listening and analytics. Joanne is a Kenyan national.

×
Josephine Mailu

Josephine Mailu
Head, Human Resources

Josephine Mailu is a Human Resources practitioner holding an MBA in Human
Resources and Strategic Management from Daystar University and a BBA in Human
Resources Management from Kenya Methodist University.

Before joining AATF, Josephine worked with the International Medical Corps –
Kenya, a non-profit relief and development organisation dedicated to saving
lives and relieving suffering through health care training. Prior to that, she
worked with Save the Children International, Somalia country office- an
organisation focusing on children’s rights, AMURT International Kenya and South
Sudan, and Palma Group.

Ms. Josephine Mailu has over 20 years’ experience in Human Resources Management
in HR Strategy formulation and implementation, Organizational Effectiveness,
Culture Transformation, Staffing and Recruitment, Succession Planning, Talent
Management, Compensation and Benefits, Performance Management, Formulation of HR
Policy & Procedure and Employee Relations.

Josephine is responsible for the human resource function at AATF. Josephine is
Kenyan.

×
David Tarus

David Tarus
Program Officer – OFAB

David Tarus holds an MSc degree in Managing the Environment: Risk Assessment of
GM crops from the Aberystwyth University, Wales, and University of Adeline,
Southern Australia BSc (Hons) degree in Agricultural Education and Extension
from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

David also holds other professional training among them training in Intellectual
Property and Technology Commercialisation from the University of California,
Davis, USA, Project Planning, Management and Evaluation from the Institute for
Capacity Development, Windhoek, Namibia, Certified Private Seed Inspector in
Kenya, Lead Instructor for Preventive Controls for Human Food accredited by
US-based Preventive Controls Alliance(FSPCA), Results Based Management training
administered by Regional Centres for Learning and Evaluation of Results,
Qualified ISO 9001:2015 on Quality Management Systems, Understanding and
Implementation and Fertilizer Policy and Marketing Strategies in Africa.

Before joining AATF, David worked with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries
Development, Trans Nzoia District, as an extension officer where he was
instrumental in the implementation of both the National Agricultural and
Livestock Extension Project (NALEP) and the Kenya Agricultural Productivity
Project (KAP) in the district. David has extensive experience spanning over a
period of 13 years in policy, program coordination, partnership management, and
international policy and regulations having worked in partnership-based
collaborations across Africa, mainly gained at AATF in different project
leadership and coordination roles involving multiple partners and stakeholders.

Working with partners, he has provided strategic leadership in several regional
collaborative efforts in the development sector. He has been consulted by the
Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) under the auspices of
its Biosafety Capacity Building Project for sub-Saharan Africa as an expert and
adviser in bio-regulatory issues. Previous roles at AATF involved coordinating
efforts in seed sub-sector policy and regulatory improvement in six countries of
Africa, implementation of policy on use of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides in
six countries of Sub-Sahara Africa, and facilitation of regulatory aspects of
aflatoxin control in maize and peanuts project in conjunction with United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) and COMESA.
David also coordinated food safety capacity enhancement efforts involving the
private sector, regulators and policy makers, an effort that was implemented in
Eastern and Western Africa.  David is a Kenyan national.

×
Prof. Aggrey Ambali

Prof. Aggrey Ambali
Chair, Board of Trustees

Prof. Aggrey Ambali is currently serving as Head of Science, Technology and
Innovation Hub (NSTIH) at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
Agency, where he oversees the development and implementation of programs in
education, health, and science and technology. He has also served in other
positions at the NEPAD Agency, including Director of Policy Alignment and
Program Development, Coordinator of the African Biosciences Initiative, and
Coordinator of Science and Technology for the Southern Africa region.

He has been actively involved in science, technology and innovation programmes
of the African Union.

He coordinated the work of the African Union High Level Panel on Science,
Technology and Innovation which was appointed in July 2012 and mandated to
prepare a ten-year African Union Science, Technology and Innovation strategy for
Africa, 2014- 2024 (STISA 2024). Outside the NEPAD Agency, he served as an
external member of Governing Council of the University of Namibia, and member of
the Innovation Council of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
(COMESA).

He serves on several committees including the Technical Advisory Committee of
the Biosafety Program of ICGEB, Chair of the Management Committee of the African
Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE), member of the Advisory Panel of the
Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA), etc.

Prof. Aggrey Ambali is currently coordinating the process of establishing a
high-level African Union panel on harnessing emerging technologies for Africa’s
development. He obtained a PhD degree in Population Genetics from Dalhousie
University, Canada, Masters of Science in Aquaculture from Asian Institute of
Technology, Thailand and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from University of
Malawi.

He served as a faculty member at the University of Malawi where he became a
Professor of Biology in 2003.

×
Dr. Boniface K. Kaberia (Ph.D.)

Dr. Boniface K. Kaberia (Ph.D.)
Member-Board of Trustees

Dr. Boniface K. Kaberia (Ph.D.)

Dr. Kaberia is the current Senior Technical Advisor to Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary
for Agriculture and Livestock Development. He also sits on the National
Technical Committee (under the Principal Secretary State Department of Livestock
Office) which is developing the livestock master plan to actively champion meat
industry modernization and consumer safety assurance through industry bodies.

Dr. Kaberia is a seasoned expert in food security and livestock development. He
has over 25 years of experience in leadership and senior management positions in
development and non-governmental organisations across East Africa, Guinea
Conakry, Mali, and Ethiopia.

Prior to his appointment as Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Kaberia was the Chief
of Party/Livestock Advisor for the $25 million Feed the Future Flagship project
funded by USAID. He also oversaw the ACDI VOCA-implemented Resilience and
Economic Growth in the Arid Lands – Accelerated Growth (REGAL-AG) project in
Kenya. During this time, the REGAL-AG project received USAID head office
recognition for outstanding performance in its implementation.

He also served as Livestock Sector Manager for Kenya Markets Trust (KMT), where
he is credited with the revision of the KMT’s livestock sector vision to align
it with Kenya’s livestock industry’s much-needed systemic transformation as a
major contributor to the country’s economic growth and source of job creation.

Dr. Kaberia’s other previous positions include serving as the Regional
Coordinator, Winrock International for the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer
programs in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, and Guinea supporting country offices to
mainstream value chain and market systems development approaches to the
programs. During this period, Dr. Kaberia established the Winrock International
Country Office in Ethiopia and assisted in talent recruitment including that of
the Country Director. Prior to this, he was the Program Manager for USAID-funded
Partnership for Safe Poultry in Kenya Project under Winrock International. In
addition, Dr. Kaberia was instrumental in pioneering FARM-Africa’s Sidai Animal
Health franchise model which currently operates in Kenya and was supported by
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Kaberia, a Kenyan national, holds a Ph.D. in International Rural Development
from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of
Veterinary Medicine from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In addition, he holds
certification in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics and has many publications
to his credit.

×
Love Unini Adegbola

Love Unini Adegbola
Administration Assistant – Abuja

Love Unini Adegbola is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of
Personnel Management of Nigeria(CIPM) and an Associate Member of the Nigerian
Institute of Management (NIM). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History &
International Studies (Second Class Upper) from Kogi State University and is
currently pursuing an MBA degree from the National Open University of Nigeria.

Before joining AATF, Love worked as Administrative Officer/ Corporate Social
Responsibility Champion for Grant Thornton Nigeria (World’s 7th largest
accounting network) for over 6 years. She has also volunteered for the World
Health Organization in Nigeria as well as other local NGOs.

Love is well vast in general administration, procurement & logistics, event
planning, and human resources management.

At AATF, Love Adegbola is responsible for general office management, assets
management, management of transport services, and events organization among
other administrative duties.

She is a Nigerian National.

×
Verenardo Meeme

Verenardo Meeme

Program Officer – Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology Technology (OFAB)

Verenardo Meeme is a passionate development communication specialist with over
eight year’s professional experience in science journalism, knowledge
management, media training and media management. Meeme is currently a programme
officer, Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology Technology (OFAB), at the
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).

Before joining AATF, Meeme worked as a communication and knowledge management
programme officer at Kilimo Trust, a not-for-profit organization working on
agriculture for development across East Africa. He has also been the Kenya
correspondent for Cornell Alliance for Science that seeks to promote access to
scientific innovation as a means of enhancing food security, improving
environmental sustainability, and raising the quality of life globally.

Meeme previously worked at Rootooba Limited as a communications specialist and
was the founding editor of PanAfrican Agriculture magazine. He was also involved
in Rootooba’s knowledge management engagement with the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) Food safety programmes. Before joining Rootooba, he worked as
a multi-media practitioner at SciDev.Net, an online platform that brings science
and global development together through news and analysis, and at Citizen
Television’s online desk as an assistant editor.

He also worked at the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications as a communications consultant, and at the National Cohesion and
Integration Commission as a cohesion monitor. Meeme was a lead consultant in the
design and implementation of several NGO initiatives inclined to science-based
communications for varied clientele and has produced documentaries for Kenya’s
Ministry of Agriculture.

He has published over 200 articles focusing on biotechnology and biosafety
online and in the print media. He formerly served as an advisor to the Meru
County Member of Parliament on media relations, messaging, branding, and
political communication strategies. He is the current Kenya Environment and
Science Journalists Association (KENSJA) organizing secretary.

Meeme was named Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology’s 2019 overall winner
for excellent science journalism and finalists in Africa and is a 2018 Cornell
Alliance for Science Global Leadership Fellow. He holds a master’s degree in
communication studies with a specialization in development communication from
the University of Nairobi, a bachelor’s degree in communication and public
relations from Moi University, a diploma in journalism from the Kenya Institute
of Mass Communication and a Global Leadership Fellowship certificate from
Cornell University, USA.  Verenardo is a Kenyan national.

×
Erasmus Mwangi

Erasmus Mwangi
Budget and Grants Management officer

Erasmus Mwangi holds an MBA (Finance) and a B.Com(Accounting), both from the
University of Nairobi. He is also Certified Public Accountant and a member of
ICPAK.

Prior to joining AATF, Erasmus worked at the Innovations for Poverty Action
(IPA) as a Grants Specialist, where he supported the budgeting, grants
administration, compliance and reporting functions for 100+ grants from major
international donors including The Gates Foundation, World Bank, Give Directly,
GIZ and major European and American Universities. Before joining IPA, Erasmus
worked as a consultant in Kenya and Zimbabwe where he provided grants and
financial consultancy services to various Non-Profit bodies. Erasmus also gained
extensive sub-grants management experience while working at Pricewaterhouse
Coopers (PwC) as a Regional Grants and Finance Officer in the Total War against
Aids (TOWA) Project.

As the Budget and Grants Management officer, Erasmus oversees the budgeting,
expenditure and compliance processes across the AATFs grantees who are spread
across 23 African countries. He guides the preparation of, and adherence to
institutional budgets as well as the partners’ project budgets.

Erasmus is a Kenyan national.

×
Prof. Bernard Slippers

Prof. Bernard Slippers
Member, Board of Directors

Bernard Slippers is the Director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology
Institute (FABI) and the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme at the
University of Pretoria.

He is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology.
Bernard’s research focus is on the ecology, evolution, and management of insects
and fungi that affect plant health. He uses genetic, genomic, and chemical tools
to characterize patterns of diversity and the global spread of invasive plant
pests and pathogens, as well as their population dynamics, communication
systems, mating strategies, and community structures.

Bernard is committed to capacity development and has acted as supervisor or
co-supervisor to more than 100 postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. and MSc students.
Bernard is also passionate about the transformation of science in Africa (and
beyond) towards a more transdisciplinary and competitive system with a greater
impact on society. Much of this has been done through his active involvement
with Academies and the global Young Academy movement. He is a founding member
and past co-chair/executive committee member of both the Global Young Academy
and the South African Young Academies of Science.

With these and other collaborators, he has also been involved in various
projects to advance Young Academies and development of research capacity. A
prominent example is the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP), amongst
others.

Bernard is also the Founding Director of Future Africa at the University of
Pretoria, a transdisciplinary research network hub and campus, and currently
leads a university-industry-government research investment platform called
Innovation Africa @UP.

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H.E. Prof. Muhammadou M.O. Kah

H.E. Prof. Muhammadou M.O. Kah

Member,Board of Trustees

His Excellency Professor Muhammadou M.O. Kah is the Ambassador & Permanent
Representative of The Gambia to the UN Office in Geneva, World Trade
Organisation (WTO), and other offices in Geneva.

He currently Chairs the Africa Group of Ambassadors in Geneva (April 2021-June
2021) and is the Vice Chair for UNCTAD’s Commission on Science and Technology
Development’s 25th session and a member of the Advisory Board of the UNCTAD TDB
Advisory Body (June 2021-July 2022). Ambassador Prof. Kah is also one of three
Ambassadors designated as Friends of the Chair of the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) General Assembly.

Prior to his appointment in Geneva, Professor Kah served as the Founding
Chairman of Zenith Bank, The Gambia, Chairman of the Board of Directors, of
Africa Consulting & Trading Group (ACT), Dakar, Senegal, and as the first
Gambian-born third Vice-Chancellor of The University of The Gambia (UTG) from
2009- 2015 and recently appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of
Humanities, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Prior to becoming UTG’s Vice Chancellor/Rector in 2009, Professor Muhammadou
M.O. Kah spent 4 years in Nigeria as the Founding Dean of the School of
Information Technology and Communications at the American University of Nigeria
(AUN) where he doubled for a year as Interim Dean of the School of Business &
Entrepreneurship. Professor Kah was appointed as Vice President of Academic
Affairs & Provost (DVC) and Professor of Information Technology & Computing at
the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State (2017-2020). He also
served as Vice Rector for Technology & Innovation; Professor and Founding Dean
of the School of Information Technology & Engineering at ADA University in Baku,
Azerbaijan (2015-2017). He served on the Board of Trustees and Governing
councils of the American University of Nigeria and the African University of
Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.

Professor Kah has held teaching and leadership positions in the USA, Africa, the
Middle East (Gulf countries), and Eastern Europe (Caucuses). A regular
contributor to the “Africa Module” in the Advanced Leadership Program (ALP) at
Cambridge Judge Business School, he was appointed as an honorary Fellow of the
Judge Business School and the Digital Innovation Centre, University of Cambridge
(2016-2017). Professor Kah is passionate about advancing and strengthening
computing, engineering, science, and leading strategy & innovation in
organizations. To complement that he also provides thought leadership in
information technologies & computing education in higher education whilst also
serving as a member of international panels such as the Malabo Montpellier
Panel, the Euro Science Forum 2018, and the Africa Europe Foundation, amongst
others.

Completing his BSc, MSc. and Ph.D. at the Stevens Institute of Technology,
Hoboken, New Jersey, one of the top engineering and technology management
universities in the USA, Professor Kah also holds a Master of Science in Finance
(Financial Engineering) from George Washington University, Washington, DC and a
Postgraduate Diploma (Dip SI) in Strategy and Innovation from the Said Business
School, University of Oxford, UK.

Professor Kah has completed several Executive Education Programs: University of
Cambridge, Judge Business School: the Advanced Leadership (ALP) Program;
Advanced Leadership Re-Union & Follow-Up Program in Singapore and Beyond
Innovation: Business Models for Transformation & Competitive Advantage; Harvard
University, Harvard Kennedy School: Transforming Leadership for 21st Century
Africa, and The AGA KHAN University, Graduate School of Media & Communication:
The Voice of Leadership; Inspiration, Influence & Impact. In Corporate
Governance, he has completed the highly reputable International Directors
Program (IDP) as an Internationally Certified Director from INSEAD, through the
INSEAD Singapore and Fontainebleau, France, Campus. Professor Kah is also a
member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), in London, UK.

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Kehinde Saheed Jimoh

Kehinde Saheed Jimoh  

Program Officer-Seed Systems and Agribusiness

Kehinde Saheed Jimoh has over ten years of multidisciplinary experience in
agricultural market systems, agricultural value chain development, and seed
systems. He has a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Lagos,
Nigeria, and a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Olabisi Onabanjo University
in Ogun State, Nigeria.

Prior to joining AATF, he worked with the National Agricultural Seed Council
(NASC) on secondment from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (FMARD) and he worked with a cross departmental team to implement
actions on Nigerian seed industry development and strengthening of operations
and administration of seed activities in Nigeria. At FMARD, he worked at the
office of the Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from
2014-2016 appraising the impact of government and donor sponsored programs on
beneficiaries and with the Root and Tuber Division, Federal Department of
Agriculture, where he worked directly with cassava farmers and SMEs providing
technical guidance on market intelligence, post-harvest handling and value
addition.

Kehinde has considerable experience working with donor funded projects such as
Bill and Melinda Gates funded Cassava bread Initiative in Nigeria (2012-2014)
and the Gates Foundation sponsored Building an Economically Sustainable
Integrated Cassava Seed System, BASICS (2015-2025). In 2021, he worked as a
part-time consultant for USW, the export market development organization for the
U.S. wheat industry, to assist the organization in increasing brand awareness in
Nigeria.

As Program Officer-Seed Systems and Agribusiness at AATF, Kehinde is responsible
for assisting in the project management, coordination, reporting, and
accountability obligations of the Early Generation Seed (EGS) Nigeria Project.
He is a Nigerian citizen.

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Bernard Oddy Ehirim

Bernard Oddy Ehirim 

Programme Officer-Stewardship

Bernard Oddy Ehirim is an experienced Crop scientist with a core bias in plant
breeding, genetics, and biotechnology. He has 12 years working experience with
the international and national agricultural research system where he was
involved in laboratory and field research, development, and improvement of crop
varieties across Africa. He holds an MSc in Crop Science from the University of
Ibadan, Nigeria with Scholarship from Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA) and a BSc in Plant Science and Biotechnology from Abia State University,
Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.

Before joining AATF, Bernard was a Research fellow with the AfricaRice center
from 2012 to 2014 and worked as a Principal Research Officer, with the National
Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) Badeggi, Nigeria where he worked as a plant
breeder and biotechnologist of their mandate crops. He was the Biotechnology
Laboratory manager of same institute, a member of the rice breeding task force
(RBTF) for Africa, coordinated and was directly involved in the research that
led to the eventual nomination, registration and release of the first ever
submergence rice variety in Nigeria and the first ever Hybrid rice variety in
Nigeria.  Bernard was the Trial Manager to the NEWEST rice project for Africa, a
member of the grant and proposal writing committee of NCRI that attracted
several grants for the research and development of rice in Nigeria, assisted the
seminar department in arranging seminars as Deputy Coordinator, Seminar Series
NCRI. He is also a member of several professional bodies related to Agriculture,
Research, and Development.

Bernard’s publications include several journal articles, and conference papers
presented at international and national conferences. As a Programme
Officer-Stewardship at AATF, Bernard is responsible for supporting the
compliance and monitoring of activities related to stewardship, formulation and
implementation of strategies and plans to facilitate effective and efficient
product delivery through proper monitoring and regulatory compliance. Bernard
has always been involved and excited to be part of technologies that help bring
food and extra income to the table of resource-poor African farmers. He is a
Nigerian.

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Jacquine Kinyua

Jacquine Kinyua
Executive Officer

Jacquine Kinyua has training in business administration and public relations.
Before joining AATF, she worked with East African Foundry Works Group of
Companies for ten years as an Executive Secretary to the Directors and as the
Office Services Manager. Prior to that she worked with General Motors (K) Ltd in
the Personnel Department for a period of one year; and with United Touring
Company/Hertz Car Hire company for a period of less than one year. Jacquine is a
Kenyan national.

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Joyce Njuguna

Joyce Njuguna

Monitoring Evaluation & Learning Officer

Joyce is a dedicated Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning specialist with
extensive experience in food systems and agripreneurship projects. Cumulatively,
she has over 10 years working experience and has developed sound expertise in
designing MEL plans, conducting evaluations, result based management and
producing quality reports with best practices and lessons learnt. Through her
MEL work, Joyce has over the years gained extensive involvement in stakeholder
engagement from both private and public sector ranging from agro input service
providers, off takers, financiers, Non-Governmental Organization. This is
through improving output rates by enforcing and monitoring practices, policy and
results. Joyce is skilled at combining qualitative and qualitative analysis with
excellent communication skills to relay information for improvement and process
changes and drive overall organization goal.  Joyce holds a Masters degree in
Agricultural Economics and Resource Management. She is a certified MEL
practitioner and a certified public accountant (CPA K).

Previously, Joyce worked with Cereal Growers Association as the MEL lead and
further as the project manager for the Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA) program
funded by World food Programme. While at CGA, she led MEL initiatives under
different donors such as AGRA, USAID, GIZ among others. Joyce led a team of 30
experienced county Agribusiness Coordinators, working with over 700 rural
agri-preneurs known as Farmer Service Centers (FSCs). These FSCs served well
over 125,000 small holder farmers in Kenya.

At AATF, Joyce is responsible for providing MEL leadership in terms of
development and optimization of the MEL Strategy that measures program-wide
performance and achievements towards outcomes (using the Outcomes & Impact
Framework core indicators and other methods as appropriate) including roll-out
of new MEL related initiatives. Joyce is a Kenyan National.

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Francis Onyekachi Nwankwo

Francis Onyekachi Nwankwo
Product Stewardship Manager

Francis Onyekachi Nwankwo is an action researcher with 11 years of practical
quest to contribute to strengthening the livelihood of smallholder farmers by
helping to increase their agricultural productivity and competitiveness thereby
reducing hunger and poverty. He holds a B.Agric (Animal Science and Animal
Health) from the University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria, and a Masters in
Human Development and Food Security from the University of Rome (Roma Tre).
Before joining AATF, Francis worked for the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD); the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), the Ministry of Agriculture in Nigeria, and the National Association of
Nigerian Traders, among other NGOs. Francis served in the ECOWAS Scientific
Committee for the second ECOWAS Development Report and also worked as a
consultant/resource person to the European Commission/Pro€Invest and the UN
Women. At AATF, Francis is Product Stewardship Manager. Francis is a Nigerian
national.

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Grace Mukasa

Grace Mukasa

Resource Mobilization Officer

Grace is a communications specialist with over 15 years’ working experience in
diverse sectors including agriculture and health.

Prior to joining AATF, she worked as an independent consultant since May 2017
where she provided communications support including resource mobilization for
both public and private sector clients. She previously worked with Merck Health
Care and Life Sciences, Kenya as a Communications Manager from 2015 to 2017. 
Prior to that, she was the Corporate Communications Officer at AATF from 2011 to
2015 and the Project Communications Officer – WEMA Project from 2008 to 2011.
She also served as the Publications Editor for the Institute of Policy &
Research, Kenya from 2004 to 2008.

Grace holds an MA in Gender and Development and a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass
Communications from the University of Nairobi and a BSc. Information Sciences
from Moi University. Grace will be applying her knowledge and experience in
communication to support AATF’s Resource Mobilization initiatives. Grace will
double up as the AATF editor and provide administrative services to the AATF
consultancy arm. Grace is a Kenyan national.

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Prof. Garba Hamidu Sharubutu

Prof. Garba Hamidu Sharubutu
Member, Board of Directors

Prof Garba Hamidu Sharubutu is the Executive Secretary of the Agricultural
Research Council of Nigeria. He is a specialist in Infectious Diseases of
Livestock and Veterinary Legislation. A Native of Kwande, Qua’an – Pan Local
Government Area of Plateau State, Garba Sharubutu was born on June 19, 1961. He
attended St. John Vianney’s Transferred Roman Catholic (RCM) Primary School,
Kwande; Government Secondary School (G.S.S.) Shendam; and the Plateau State
School of Preliminary Studies (SPS) in Keffi, Nassarawa State.

Hamidu Sharubutu obtained a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M) degree from
Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U), Zaria in 1986; a Masters of Veterinary Science
(M.V.Sc) degree from the University of Ibadan in 1992; and a Ph.D. from Usman
Dan Fodiyo University Sokoto in 2002.

Prof. Sharubutu began his public service career in the Federal Livestock
Department that same year (1987), subsequently joining the services of Usmanu
Dan Fodiyo University as Assistant Lecturer in 1991 and rose to the rank of a
Professor in 2005. He held numerous positions including Complex Co-ordinator of
City Campus Complex of the University; Chairman, ASUU UDUS branch; Dean Faculty
of Veterinary medicine; and Chairman of many sensitive University Committees.

He has earned numerous awards including the Presidential National Youth Service
Corp (NYSC) Honours in 1987 and nurtured many talents across the agricultural
research sector. A seasoned professional, he is no novice in the academic,
administrative and managerial sphere, and he is well published.

Prior to his appointment as the Executive Secretary on 16th April, 2020, he
acted in that position between September 2019 – April, 2020. Prof. Sharubutu has
also held several positions in the public sector including National President,
Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (2005 – 2009); President of Veterinary
Council of Nigeria (2013 – 2017); Provost, Federal College of Animal Health and
Production Technology, Vom (2014 – 2018). He is an alumnus of the National
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, where he also served as the Monitor
General of SEC 35, 2013.

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Dorothy Onyango

Dorothy Onyango
Program Officer, RICE

Dorothy is a plant scientist who passionately believes in transforming hard
science into a soft science that can improve lives of smallholder farmers. She
is known to have a good balance between laboratory and field research in the
areas of plant breeding, Genetics, plant molecular physiology, seed science,
farmer researcher interaction through outreach activities and capacity building.

Before joining AATF, Dorothy worked with International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) as a seed system specialist consultant, conducting baseline survey aimed
at understanding rice seed value chain in Kenya. She also worked with DryGro as
the Director of Plant Science Kenya research where she improved the crude
protein content of Lemna from 23% to 51%. Prior to this, Dorothy worked with
DuPont Pioneer Kenya as a highland maize breeder developing maize hybrids for
the highlands. Dorothy also worked as a capacity-building associate with
International Livestock Research Institute where she successfully trained and
co-supervised 12 PhD and 16 MSC ABCF fellows from East and Central Africa.

Dorothy worked with the International Potato Center (CIP) as an associate
production systems manager where she ardently helped farmers of western Kenya to
sustainably intensify and or diversify their production systems. Dorothy holds
her PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Maseno University Kenya. She
conducted her PhD thesis research with the AfricaRice centre station in Tanzania
and IRRI Los Banos in the Philippines. Dorothy holds MSc in Plant Genetics from
University of Eldoret and BSC Botany from Moi University, both in Kenya. In
addition, Dorothy holds a certificate in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics from
the University of Nairobi. Apart from being a scientist, Dorothy is an
award-winning agripreneur who worked end to end with smallholder farmers of
western Kenya in innovating and integrating a groundnut biofertilizer winning
FAPA AWARD. She is a Kenyan National.

As she joins AATF, she has keen interest in the implementation of the NEWEST and
Hybrid Rice projects as well as AHyRA to ensure timely and high-quality delivery
of activities and hopes to see rice farmers of Sub-Saharan Africa improve their
yields through the use of certified hybrid rice seed as she works out
post-harvest loss management in rice.

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Alhaji Tejan-Cole

Alhaji Tejan-Cole
Director of Legal Affairs/Legal Counsel

Alhaji Tejan-Cole holds a LL.M degree in Legislative Drafting (including
Constitutional/Administrative Law) from the University of the West Indies and a
LL.M degree in Intellectual Property Law (including Competition Law) from the
University of South Africa. He has served as Legislative Counsel in Sierra Leone
and in the Caribbean nation of Belize.

In 2003, he was appointed as Deputy Registrar for Intellectual Property in
Belize, a position which he held until his appointment with the African
Agricultural Technology Foundation. Alhaji has also served as legislative
drafting consultant for the World Intellectual Property Organization. In
addition to legislative drafting and intellectual property management, his other
areas of experience include contract drafting, technology transfer, corporate
governance and legal compliance. He is a citizen of Sierra Leone.

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Djimé Adoum

Djimé Adoum
Member, Board of Directors

Djimé Adoum is the High Representative for the G5 Sahel Coalition. He has also
served as the Executive Secretary of the Permanent Interstates Committee for
Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and former Minister of Agriculture and
Irrigation of Chad. He has 25 years of professional experience in international
development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. As an agronomist, Djimé has
occupied various positions in the field of research, agricultural extension,
communication and strategy in the design of development programs in several
countries, from South Africa to Egypt through Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Cameroon, USA and Chad. He has worked for international organizations such as
the World Bank and USAID, as well as for research institutes and in the
implementation of development strategies. Before his tenure as minister, he
served as a technical advisor to President Idriss Deby Itno of Chad.  He holds a
graduate degree in Agronomy, specifically in crop production and statistics, and
a PhD in agronomy and agricultural extension from the University of Maryland.

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Sofia Tesfazion

Sofia Tesfazion
Director Resource Mobilisation

Sofia Tesfazion holds a Master’s degree in International Business Administration
and Economics from Uppsala University in Sweden and a Certificate in Change
Leadership from Cornell University, USA. She has over 22 years of diverse
experience in the private and development sectors from three continents, Europe,
USA and Africa. Sofia started her career in SCA (Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget)
a multinational company headquartered in Sweden that produces and sells
absorbent hygiene products, packaging solutions and publication papers. She then
moved to New York working for Towers Perrin, a global professional services firm
that helps organisations around the world optimise performance through effective
people, and risk and financial management – servicing clients that include
three-quarters of the world’s 500 largest companies and three quarters of the
Fortune 1000 U.S. companies. Sofia has been based in Nairobi over the last 13
years in regional management roles in resource mobilization, program development
and grant management for Save the Children and Plan International. Before
joining AATF, she was the Regional Head of Resource Mobilisation for Plan
International covering 12 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. In AATF as
Director Resource Mobilisation she provides strategic leadership in the area of
resource mobilisation. Sofia is an Eritrean and Swedish national.

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Kayode Abiola Sanni

Kayode Abiola Sanni
Rice Project Manager

Kayode Abiola Sanni has over 20 years experience in agricultural research and
development, science and technology, leadership in genetics, plant breeding,
genetic resources and project management. He has greatly contributed to research
towards food security in Africa through management of genetic resources,
varietal development, registration, release and dissemination. Kayode holds a
PhD in Plant Breeding from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,
Nigeria, an MSc in Environmental Genetics and a BSc in Agriculture (Soil
Science) both from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His PhD work was focused
on New Rice for Africa (NERICA) and he serverd as a Postdoctoral Fellow as
molecular biologist at the Genetic Diversity and Improvement Program of Africa
Rice Center (AfricaRice). Prior to joining AATF, Kayode was the Head of Genetic
Resources Unit and the Coordinator of International Network for Genetic
Evaluation of Rice in Africa (INGER-Africa) at AfricaRice, where he led and
managed the collection, conservation and utilisation of rice genetic resources.
He was the lead scientist for the international rice evaluation and varietal
release program cutting across 30 African countries, which led to the
registration and release of rice varieties in the different countries. Kayode
served as the focal point of AfricaRice at several levels such as, the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and all
issues relating to genetic biodiversity and Intellectual Property Rights. He
took active part in multi-country donor-funded projects at AfricaRice. He also
provided technical backstopping to national research scientists in Sub-Saharan
Africa, and supervising post graduate students. He played a significant role in
the establishment of varietal release system in the republic of Benin and was
part of the committee that compiled the rice component of the first varietal
catalogue of the country. Prior to that Kayode worked at the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, in various
capacities, firstly with the Maize Breeding Program and later with the Genetic
Resources Center, where he worked on the Genetic profiling of three of the IITA
mandate Crops. Kayode participates in the crop technical sub-committee of the
National Varietal Release Committee of Nigeria as an international expert on
rice. He has published heavily in scientific journals, conference papers, books
and book chapters, posters, flyers, bulletins. As the Project Manager Rice, he
provides overall leadership to the research and product development of the rice
projects – translating strategic aims into achievable plans, establishing
priorities, and ensuring the integration of technical, legal, communication,
regulatory, and product deployment elements of the projects. Kayode is a
national of Nigeria.

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Millicent Sedi

Millicent Sedi

Program Officer-Agribusiness Development

Millicent .A. Sedi holds a master’s degree in Agribusiness Management (Finance
and Marketing option) from Kerala Agricultural University, India. She also holds
a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Production from Egerton University,
Kenya.

Millicent Sedi is an agricultural value chain and market systems development
expert with more than 8 years of progressively responsible experience in the
management and implementation of food and agricultural development activities
with smallholder farmers within the Kenyan context. She has a vast understanding
of agricultural market systems and supporting private and public sector actors
to invest in long term relationships with smallholder farmers for structured
crop and dairy production.

She has worked as a Program Manager, PREG lead, Business Development Specialist,
Business Advisor, sales executive for USAID, USDA, FORD Foundation and private
firms funded programs. Millicent has wide experience in the agriculture sector
that includes strategic management and leadership, financial analysis of
businesses, financing, and market linkages, overseeing gender inclusivity and
working with Communities on Journey to Self-Reliance. As a Program
Officer-Agribusiness Development, Millicent is responsible for providing
technical support on Agribusiness Development, Gender Mainstreaming, conducting
baseline and feasibility studies, and drafting concept notes, business plans,
market, and impact assessment for all AATF projects.

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Peter Mugambi

Peter Mugambi
Director, Corporate Services

Peter Mugambi holds an MBA from the University of Nairobi and professional
accounting qualifications. Peter has extensive finance and operations
experience, having worked at various international organizations for over
fifteen years at different management levels. Before joining the AATF, he worked
in Jhpiego Corporation as Finance and Administration Director, managing a
substantial donor funding portfolio. Peter has also worked for CNFA, CARE
International, Oxfam GB, and General Motors. He has provided specialist finance,
operations, and compliance support to various organizations within Africa, Asia,
and the Caribbean. Peter is an innovative problem solver and works to create
motivated, agile and collaborative teams. Peter is a Kenyan national.

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Ijeoma Akaogu

Ijeoma Akaogu
Program Officer- COWPEA

Ijeoma Akaogu is a seasoned scientist in plant breeding, genetics, and
biotechnology with a good background in agronomy. She has over 10 years working
experience across international and national organizations in Africa. Ijeoma
holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the West Africa Center for
Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon Accra, M.Sc in Agronomy
from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, and B.Sc in Plant Science and
Biotechnology from Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria. She was one of the
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) scholars for both her M.Sc and
Ph.D degrees. Also, she was one of the 2016/2017 Norman Borlaug Leadership
Enhancement in Agricultural Program (LEAP) fellows at Cornell University Ithaca
New York where she conducted research on the identification of the quantitative
trait loci (QTLs) for Striga hermonthica in tropical maize lines. Before joining
AATF, Ijeoma worked at the National Biotechnology Development Agency Abuja
(NABDA), an organization saddled with promoting and coordinating biotechnology
products, research, and development in Nigeria. Prior to that, she worked with
the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under the Maize
improvement unit as a research fellow where she had developed and commercialized
some maize varieties in West Africa. Ijeoma was also a visiting scientist in the
Institute of Biotechnology at the Cornel University, Ithaca, New York, USA. She
brings on board a blend of experience in Agricultural Research,
Commercialization and varietal release, design of breeding experiments, regional
and international trials management, food and nutrition security. She is the
Program officer for the pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea project at AATF. Ijeoma
is a Nigerian national.

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Moses Taiwo Ajireloja

Moses Taiwo Ajireloja
Programme Officer- Seed Systems

Moses Taiwo Ajireloja is an excellent seed specialist with sound knowledge of
seed production and seed systems, together with experience in promoting
agricultural innovations (especially improved seed varieties) that can help
smallholder farmers to become more productive, profitable, and sustainable.
Moses holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) Degree in Seed Science and
Technology, and a Bachelor of Agriculture (B.Agric.) Degree in Crop Production
and Protection, both from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. He is also an
alumnus of The SDG Academy where he participated in a comprehensive course on
‘Feeding a Hungry Planet: Agriculture, Nutrition, and Sustainability’. Moses
also holds a Diploma in Computer Science, and he had been a participant in
several online courses including project management, monitoring and evaluation,
advocacy, and digital technology. Prior to joining AATF, Moses was the
Coordinator and Lead Developer of the Nigerian Seed Portal Initiative where he
was responsible for facilitating the development of the seed portal and
promoting the adoption of improved seed varieties towards boosting agricultural
productivity and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. As a
Programme Officer- Seed Systems at AATF, Moses is responsible for supporting the
formulation and implementation of seed production strategies and plans, to
facilitate effective and efficient product delivery, and seed systems components
of projects. Moses is passionate about contributing to the realization of a
prosperous and food-secure Africa where the livelihoods of smallholder farmers
are transformed through innovative agricultural technologies that deliver
results that increase farmers’ income, enhance food security, and improve
nutrition. He is a Nigerian national.

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Alex Abutu

Alex Abutu
Communications Officer-West & Central Africa

Augustine Abutu Alexander is a veteran science journalist with many years of
practical experience covering agriculture, health, climate change, and
development for various media platforms across Africa and the United Kingdom.
Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from the Benue State
University, Makurdi, and has just completed course works and dissertation for
the award of a master’s degree in development communication from the Nasarawa
State University, Keffi (Award of degree awaited). Prior to joining AATF, Alex
was Editor, Agriculture, and Environment Desk at the Daily Trust newspaper,
Abuja. In 2009, Alex was honored by the World Federation of Science Journalists
as one of the four journalists that changed the world with their investigative
reporting. He was coordinator, Biosciences for Farming in Africa, media
consultant to the Program for Biosafety Systems, and media adviser to Nigeria’s
former Minister of Science and Technology. He was also previously involved in
the training of scientists on how to communicate their research findings as well
as training and mentoring of science journalists across Africa. Alex is a
national of Nigeria.

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Vitumbiko Chinoko

Vitumbiko Chinoko
Project Manager -OFAB PROJECT

Vitumbiko Chinoko holds a Bachelor of Education – Science (BEd.Sc) (Spatial
Development and Physical Geography), from Chancellor College of the University
of Malawi and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with majors in Corporate
Strategy and International Business from the Management College of Southern
Africa (MANCOSA), in Durban, South Africa.

He is an accomplished rural development specialist, campaigner and advocate with
over 10 years of working with communities on climate adaptation and mitigation
and influencing global, regional and national policy and practice on climate
change and sustainable socio-economic development.

While at Christian Aid, he commissioned the country’s inaugural budget analysis
on climate change to determine Government of Malawi’s commitment to climate
change adaptation and disaster risk management. The report was instrumental in
raising awareness on climate change and facilitated evidence-based engagement
with Members of Parliament (MPs), the Executive and technocrats on the need
increase investment in climate change through the national budget. He
previously, worked with ACT Alliance, where he coordinated an international
climate change policy influencing strategy and designed and implemented a global
campaign to influence a pro-poor outcome on climate change adaptation, loss and
damage, climate finance and emissions reductions from the historic the Paris
Climate Conference in 2015.

Before joining AATF Vitumbiko worked for CARE USA, where he coordinated a CARE
USA investment opportunity; Impact Growth Strategy (IGS), an advocacy and
influencing programme for Southern Africa on Food Security, Nutrition and
Climate Change. At CARE USA, Vitumbiko developed a Pan-African Advocacy and
Influencing Strategy that focused at influencing Governments to implement the
Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth And Transformation for
Shared Prosperity And Improved Livelihoods’s Commitments on Food Security,
Nutrition and Climate Change as expressed in their respective National
Agriculture Investments Plans (NAIPs). He facilitated the establishment of East
and Southern Africa CSO SUN Network and coordinated the development of the first
ever Nutrition Investment Report by 9 selected Governments in East and Southern
Africa. He also established the Southern Africa Climate Smart Alliance (SACSA)
under the Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (ACSAA).

Vitumbiko is a member of CAADP Non-State Actors Coalition (CNC), a CSO platform
that coordinates all advocacy and influencing on CAADP to the African Union
(AU)/NEPAD. In CNC Vitumbiko co-chairs the Food Security Technical Working
Group. He is a CSO member of the High Level Panel of InsuResilience Global
Partnership (IGP) where he co-chairs the Gender Working Group with the
Government of Canada.

Vitumbiko is an experienced climate change negotiator and has supported the
Malawi Government Delegation to the UNFCCC to negotiate Agriculture, Climate
Finance, adaptation and loss and damage at the UNFCCC since 2012. Vitumbiko is
Malawian.

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George Achia

George Achia
Communications Officer-East and Southern Africa

George is a Communications, Public Relations (PR) and Media professional with
over eight years’ of experience in corporate communications, media relations,
developing and implementing communications strategies, media, development of IEC
materials, content development, media training, event planning & management and
stakeholder & influencers relations. George holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Linguistics and Literary Studies from Moi University and is currently pursuing
his Master of Arts Degree in Communication Studies (Strategic Communication)
from the University of Nairobi. Before joining AATF, George worked with
different Communications & PR Firms including Apex Porter Novelli (APN) and
Chatter Media Africa as an Account Manager where he helped manage communications
and PR functions for the corporate clients. Further, he handled the day-to-day
PR activities for the clients including media relations and advocacy, corporate
positioning, stakeholder relations, event management as well as act as the
client-service lead for the accounts. He conceptualized and implemented
different campaigns and media relations activities for the clients under
intertwined strategies that helped the clients achieve their
communications/organizational objectives. Before that, he worked as a science
journalist reporting on different aspects of Science, Technology, and Innovation
for different science publications such as ScienceAfrica and SciDev.Net – all
focusing in bringing science, development and policy issues together through
news and analysis in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the Communications Officer – East
and Southern African, George is responsible for enhancing the visibility of AATF
in the media, promoting the brand and its projects among target audiences in and
outside Africa. George is a Kenyan national.

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Cecilia Limera

Cecilia Limera
Programme Officer – Programme Development and Commercialisation (PDC)

Cecilia Limera is a plant biotechnologist with additional experience in
molecular breeding and agronomy. Cecilia holds a PhD in agricultural,
environmental, and food sciences with a specialisation in plant biotechnology
from Universita Politecnica delle Marche, Italy; she did part of her research at
the University of Wyoming, USA. She also holds an MSc. in horticulture with a
specialisation in vegetable genetics and molecular breeding from Nanjing
Agricultural University, China and a Bsc. in horticulture from Egerton
University. Cecilia’s accomplishment in scientific communication has been
demonstrated through her publication record culminating into over 17
peer-reviewed papers, conference papers, and book chapters. Before joining AATF,
Cecilia was a postdoc research fellow at Universita Politecnica delle Marche in
Mezzetti’s plant biotechnology laboratory, responsible for research in
organogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, and genetic engineering techniques. She
also participated in proposals writing and training of undergraduate and masters
students in plant biotechnology techniques. Previously, Cecilia worked for
Canken International Company as chief agronomist responsible for the
coordination of agronomists’ activities and training, budget preparations, and
farmer consultations. Cecilia also worked for Technoserve coffee initiative as a
business advisor intern with a responsibility for training coffee farmers on GAP
and GPP. As a Programme Officer in the Programme Development and
Commercialisation (PDC), Cecilia is responsible for the coordination and
submission of technical reports, preparation of project documents, annual
project budget reviews, project status reports and participation in project
review meetings. Cecilia is a Kenyan national.

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Howard Okiror

Howard Okiror
Legal Officer

Howard Okiror, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, holds a Bachelors of Law
(LLB) from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), a Post Graduate
Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, a Master’s Degree in Intellectual
Property from the African University (WIPO/ARIPO Academy) Zimbabwe, several
professional certificates on Intellectual Property issued by WIPO Academy and is
currently finalising on his Master of Business Administration at CUEA. Prior to
joining AATF he worked at the Kenya Copyright Board, a state corporation under
the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice (Kenya), as a Legal
Counsel and Copyright Prosecutor where he was involved in advising government
and training the public on issues surrounding copyright and related rights, and
also conducted prosecution for copyright infringement cases. Prior to joining
government, Howard worked as a commercial and litigation lawyer with the firms
of Yunis Mohammed & Associates and Muriithi & Ndonye Advocates respectively. At
AATF, Howard is responsible for managing the AATF Contract Lifecycle Management
System, negotiating, drafting and management of license agreements for
technology development and deployment; facilitating and coordinating the filing
of project and institutional intellectual property rights, updating and
maintaining the intranet board folder, assisting the Director of Legal Affairs
with corporate compliance functions; organising and facilitating project
intellectual property meetings; assisting the Director of Legal Affairs in
managing the AATF Technology and Innovation Support Centre; and assisting in
intellectual property trainings for AATF and other partners. Howard is a
national of Kenya.

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Stephen Obunga

Stephen Obunga
Accountant

Stephen Obunga holds Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours) degree from KCA
University. He is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya and has vast working
experience in donor financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, preparation
of year end accounts, management accounting and reporting, variance analysis,
preparation of audit papers, administration, cash flow management, compliance
reviews and internal control systems monitoring. Prior to joining AATF he worked
at DAI Global LLC as Senior Accountant for the East Africa Trade & Investment
Hub Project, at CIP as Finance and Admin Officer and at ActionAid International
as Finance & Admin Assistant. As the Accountant, his work is to provide support
in the execution of financial services of AATF projects and other institutional
activities ensuring effective and transparent utilisation of financial resources
and integrity of financial services, ensure promotion of a client-oriented
approach consistent with AATF rules and regulations and prepare and maintain
accurate, timely, complete and reliable periodical financial reports and ensure
that all financial transactions comply with set organisation policies and
procedures as well as development partners’ regulations. Stephen is a Kenyan
national.

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Paul Oni Owolabi

Paul Oni Owolabi
Associate Administrative and Finance Officer

Paul Oni Owolabi is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Nigeria (ACA) and an Associate Member of the Institute of
Strategic Management of Nigeria (ASM). He holds a B.Sc. Accounting (Second-class
Honors) degree from the University of Benin and is currently pursuing an MBA
(finance option) degree from Patten University, Oakland, California. Prior to
Joining AATF, he worked as an Accountant at Sterling Travels and Tours Limited,
Private Networks Nigeria (PNN GROUP), and OneCard TopUp Services Limited. Paul’s
experience spans the travel and tourism industry, telecommunication and fast
moving consumer goods. As Associate Administrative and Finance Officer, he is
responsible for the day-to-day finance functions, project finance activities for
West Africa, tax and payroll management, West Africa sub-grantee financial
review, travel management, procurement, general administration and basic human
resource services in the Nigeria Country office. Paul is a Nigerian national.

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Simeon Eze

Simeon Eze
Driver, Abuja Office

Simeon Eze has been competently trained in Defensive and Advanced Driving and is
currently undertaking a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the National
Open University of Nigeria. Before joining AATF, he worked with the Canadian
International Development Agency Program and the Castle and Towers Guards.
Simeon has over 20 years’ experience in protocol, transportation and logistics.
At AATF, he is responsible for administrative, transportation and logistics
support. Eze is a national of Nigeria.

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Francis Nang'ayo

Francis Nang’ayo
Senior Manager, Regulatory Matters

Francis Nang’ayo, an Applied Ecologist and leading expert on biosafety and
regulatory affairs, holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Biological Sciences
(University of Nairobi, Kenya), an M.Sc. degree in Environmental Biology
(University of Guelph, Canada) and a Ph.D. degree in Applied Ecology (Imperial
College, University of London). Additionally, he holds a postgraduate diploma in
Crop Protection from Imperial College, London. His career as a scientist begun
at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) where he
worked for close to 20 years rising through the ranks of Research Officer,
Senior Research Officer, Principal Research Officer and Deputy Director of the
Biotechnology Research Centre in Nairobi. He was later appointed General Manager
in charge of Phytosanitary Services, Biosafety, and Quarantine Affairs at the
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) before progressing to his
current appointment at AATF of Senior Manager and Head of Regulatory Affairs in
2005. He is responsible for securing regulatory approval authorisations for
testing and deployment of agricultural technologies including ensuring
compliance with regulatory requirements of target countries for AATF projects.
Francis is a member of many professional societies including the Entomological
Society of Kenya (ESK); the African Crop Science Society, the African
Association of Insect Scientists (AAIS), the Public Research and Regulation
Forum, the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) and the Common Market
for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Expert Panel on Biotechnology and
Biosafety, to name a few. Previously, Francis served as Member of the Kenya
Standing Technical Committee on Imports and Exports (KSTCIE), the National
Biosafety Committee (NBC) of Kenya, Institutional Biosafety Committee of KALRO
and the Executive Committee of the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council of the
African Union (IAPSAC). Francis has authored many publications. He has
participated as a panelist on many TV talk shows on the safe utilisation of
modern biotechnology and delivered several presentations on the same topic
including Key Note addresses at professional, university and industry meetings
at international and regional levels. Francis is a Kenyan.

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Munyaradzi Jonga

Munyaradzi Jonga
Seeds Production Manager

Munyaradzi Jonga is an agronomist and seed production specialist with vast
experience in agriculture and the seed sector, and a passion for seed sector
development and management. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Crop Science as well
as an MBA from the University of Zimbabwe. He has a Diploma in Marketing,
Research Methods for Agronomists and has undertaken a Management Development
course at the University of Cape Town as well as various courses on quality
assurance and auditing of quality management systems. Munyaradzi got
agricultural research and extension experience working in the fertiliser, crop
chemicals and seed industries, where he gained understanding of various farming
systems both in the smallholder and large scale farming sectors. He has worked
as a Gazetted Seed Inspector, Seed Production & Quality Assurance Manager and
Operations Manager for Seed Co Ltd. These appointments allowed Munyaradzi to
participate in critical panels, committees, associations and seed systems
networks dealing with seed production development and administration in
Zimbabwe, Eastern and Southern Africa. Munyaradzi has contributed to agriculture
and seed sector development through training of seed growers and seed industry
personnel during formal workshop presentations and field training in east and
southern African. During his tenure at Seed Co Ltd, he developed a practical
seed production manual – “Maize Seed Production Manual 2002” – to assist
upcoming seed growers and seed production personnel and supervised many
internship students from various colleges and universities. Munyaradzi is a
national of Zimbabwe.

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Arnold Ntulume Mbowa

Arnold Ntulume Mbowa
Project Officer, Partnership for Africa Seed Technology Transfer Activity
(PASTTA)

A trained agriculturalist with five years of experience in Seed production,
product development, marketing and extension. He has built a career around
expanding access to improved varieties of crops by farmers (both small holders
and commercial) with roles in seed production, marketing and extension. Before
joining AATF, Arnold worked as a product development agronomist at East African
Seed (U) limited; as a team leader – Farmers’ Resource Centre at MWH foundation
and a Sales and Marketing manager at Rhino Seeds (U) limited. He is an
agricultural and development worker with cross-functional competences in seed
production, testing and marketing as well as community mobilization and climate
smart agricultural technologies. Arnold holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Agriculture from Makerere University college of Agricultural science and a
certificate in project management and planning. At AATF, Arnold is the project
officer for PASTTA project in Uganda responsible for overseeing all project work
in Uganda and ensuring that activities are implemented as planned. Arnold is
Ugandan

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Issoufou Kollo Abdourhamane

Issoufou Kollo Abdourhamane
Cowpea Project Manager

Issoufou Kollo Abdourhamane holds a Doctorate degree in Plant Pathology from
Texas A&M University, USA; a Master’s in Plant Pathology and Bachelors in Plant
Protection from Purdue University, Indiana, USA. Before joining AATF, Issoufou
worked for the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and
Development CORAF/WECARD) where he was the Coordinator for the Australian Agency
for International Development (AusAID) Part

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Monica Ndoria

Monica Ndoria
Regional Advocacy Coordinator – TELA

Monica Ndoria has over 10 years’ experience in program leadership across Africa
and Asia. She holds an MSC degree in Development Management from Open University
(UK), an MBA degree in Strategic Management from Daystar University (Kenya), a
BSC Accounting degree from the Oxford Brookes University (UK), a certificate in
project leadership from the Cornell University (USA) and project management
certification through the Project Management for Development Professionals
(PMDPro I&II) from LINGOs. Key areas of work include multi-country project
coordination, advocacy and policy engagement including capacitating vulnerable
and at-risk populations to engage in policy processes around biotechnology,
health systems strengthening and HIV/AIDS. Prior to joining AATF, she worked
with the Catholic Relief Services East African Regional office as a Senior
Program Coordinator where she worked with civil society organisations across
Africa and Asia through on-site and virtual technical assistance to set up
platforms/networks and strengthened them to coordinate consistent engagement of
CSOs in national health sector planning and policy processes. She has supported
development of communication and strategic plans, including providing learning
platforms that have promoted peer learning and strategic partnerships with
development partners, academia and government ministries. She is trained in
evidence-based advocacy; skills that have been critical in informing her
mentorship to countries. At AATF, Monica coordinates the regional advocacy
portfolio for the TELA project that is implemented in six countries. In this
role, she works with national agricultural research centers in Sub-Saharan
Africa to develop and implement effective outreach and policy advocacy
strategies that seek to create an enabling environment for evidence-based policy
making in agriculture. Monica is a Kenyan national.

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Gordon Ogutu

Gordon Ogutu
Protocal/Liaison Assistant

Gordon Ogutu holds an “O” level certificate and a Grade III Motor Vehicle
Mechanic certificate. Before joining AATF, he worked as Liaison Assistant for
six years at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Clerk/Driver
for four years at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Clerk/Driver for the
Smallholder Dairy Project for one year and as Purchasing Assistant/Driver for
one year at Sacross Agencies. Gordon is a national of Kenya.

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George Marechera

George Marechera
Agribusiness Development Manager

George Marechera holds an MBA from Wolverhampton University, UK, a Bsc Honours
degree from University of Zimbabwe and several professional management
qualifications. Before joining AATF he worked as General Manager for Saltlakes
Holdings (Zimbabwe) spearheading tobacco contract farming which targeted
smallholder farmers; Makita Manufacturing (UK) as General Manager responsible
for operations; Simmonsigns Pvt Ltd (UK) as a General Manager, where he was
involved in business management, strategy and human resources management; the
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement in Zimbabwe as an
Economist and later as a Senior Economist responsible for project administration
and finance directly involved in the management of agricultural projects funded
by the Government and donors including European Union, World Bank, United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), United Kingdom Department for
International Development (DFID) and Japanese Aid. By the time he left the
Ministry, he was the Executive Assistant to the Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry responsible for change management, commercialisation and subcontracting
initiatives. During his tenure at the Ministry, he also worked as a part time
lecturer in economics and business management. George has worked in the
agricultural industry and has wide experience in project and agri-business
management, business strategy, business consultancy, marketing management,
change management, economic development and regeneration. He has proven
leadership skills in managing, developing and motivating teams. As Agri-business
Specialist, George is responsible for co-ordinating and facilitating business
initiatives between the AATF, agro-industry, smallholder farmers and all
stakeholders in the agricultural industry to ensure appropriate knowledge is
disseminated for effective and efficient service delivery. George Marechera is a
Zimbabwean national.

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Sylvester Oikeh

Sylvester Oikeh
WEMA Project Manager

Sylvester O. Oikeh has more than 18 years of interdisciplinary experience in
research and development projects on natural resources and crop management, and
plant nutrition. He joined AATF from the Africa Rice Centre, WARDA, where he
worked for five years, rising to the position of a Principal Scientist/Soil
Fertility Agronomist and Project Leader. As a Principal Scientist, Sylvester’s
key duties included conducting strategic and applied research on integrated soil
fertility management and plant nutrition to improve natural resources management
and increase rice production in smallholder farming systems. He took part in
multi-country donor-funded projects, backstopping national research systems
scientists in west and eastern Africa, and supervising doctoral students, among
other duties. Between 1990 and 2003, Sylvester held various positions at the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), including as a GTZ
Research Fellow, a consultant agronomist, and a visiting maize scientist
involved in collaborative research investigating micronutrient enhancement of
tropical maize. In 2001, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University’s
USDA Plant, Soil and Nutrition Lab at Ithaca, New York, USA. Sylvester attained
his doctorate in Soil Science specialising in Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition
from the Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, in 1996. He obtained a Masters degree
in Crop Science from the University of Nigeria, Nssuka, the same university from
where he had graduated with a Bachelor of Agriculture degree in Horticulture.
Sylvester holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Irrigation Engineering from the Centre
for Irrigation Engineering of the Katholieke universiteit, Leuven, Belgium.
Besides research, he has lectured in Nigeria at the University of Benin (Soil
Science) and Anambra State College of Education (Crop Production, Horticulture
and Agricultural Economics). Sylvester is a national of Nigeria.

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Daniel Kyalo Willy

Daniel Kyalo Willy
Programme Officer, TAAT Policy Enabler

Daniel Kyalo Willy is an accomplished agricultural economist with over 15
cumulative years of passionately working with smallholder farmers, particularly
in designing and implementing inter-disciplinary agricultural research projects,
household and market surveys and quantitative/qualitative data analysis. His
research has mainly focused on sustainable agricultural intensification and
productivity, technology adoption and transfer, impact assessment of
agricultural technologies, institutional economic aspects of agriculture,
agri-environmental interactions and agricultural value chains assessment. Daniel
holds a Bsc. in Agricultural Economics (Egerton), an MSc. in Agricultural and
Applied Economics (Egerton) and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics
(Bonn). Daniel’s accomplishment in scientific communication has been
demonstrated through his publication record culminating into over 30 peer
reviewed papers, conference papers, working papers, policy briefs and technical
papers. Before joining AATF, Daniel was a lecturer and researcher at the
department of Agricultural Economics, Kenyatta University. Previously, he was a
Post-doc research fellow at the Institute for Food and Resource Economics,
University of Bonn-Germany, a research assistant at Tegemeo Institute of
Agricultural Policy and Development, technical assistant at AATF, and a graduate
research assistant at both Egerton University and University of Bonn. Daniel has
been instrumental in conducting research to support agricultural policy reforms
in Africa such as reforms on land policies, agro-input marketing and input
subsidies in Kenya, wetland resources management in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda,
among others. He has successfully supervised to graduation 12 MSc. students.
Daniel held several administrative responsibilities at Kenyatta University at
both school/faculty and departmental level. He is a member of the African
Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE) and has consulted for the National
Research Fund (NRF) – Kenya, Solidaridad East and Central Africa, BOKU
University – Austria, and Michigan State University. As TAAT Policy Enabler
Programme Officer, Daniel is responsible for implementing activities within the
program towards facilitating the creation of an enabling environment for
efficient deployment of high impact agricultural technologies in 9 value chains
across over 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. His work includes policy
analysis to identify policy, regulatory and institutional related bottlenecks on
seed systems, agricultural input and output markets; engaging policy makers and
other relevant stakeholders to facilitate the elimination of these bottlenecks
and administrative responsibilities related to project planning and fiduciary
activities. Daniel is a Kenyan national.

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Caleb Obunyali

Caleb Obunyali
Programme Officer WEMA

Caleb Obunyali, a seed scientist, holds a BSc in Botany and a Master of
Philosophy (MPhiL.) in Seed Science and Technology both from Moi University.
Prior to joining AATF he worked as an Inspector at the Kenya Plant Health
Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) in seed certification and plant variety testing
and protection. Before joining KEPHIS, he worked at the East African Herbarium
Department, National Museums of Kenya, as a Research Fellow in Plant Taxonomy
and Biodiversity Conservation, and on the Seed for Life Project as an Assistant
Project Officer. As Programme Officer for the Water Efficiency Maize for Africa
(WEMA) project, Caleb is responsible for supporting the development and
implementation of product delivery strategies, seed production, product
deployment and quality management in target countries. Caleb is Kenyan.

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Fredah Nyaga

Fredah Nyaga
Accountant

Fredah Nyaga holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance option) degree from the
Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and is a Certified Public
Accountant of Kenya. She is a registered member of the Institute of Certified
Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) and the Association of Women Accountants in
Kenya (AWAK). Before Joining AATF, Fredah worked at Micro Enterprises Support
Programme Trust (MESPT) as a Senior Finance Officer. Previously she worked at
Business Services Market Development Project (BSMDP) as a Project Finance
Officer, at Tacco Consultants as Audit Assistant, and at Comtec Group Ltd as an
Accounts Assistant. As an Accountant at AATF, Fredah is responsible for
providing support in the execution of financial services for AATF projects and
other institutional activities by ensuring integrity, effectiveness and
transparent utilisation of financial resources. This includes, but is not
limited to, preparation and maintenance of accurate, timely, complete and
reliable periodical financial and management reports that comply with set
company policies and procedures as well as development partners’ regulations.
Fredah is a Kenyan national.

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Edith Kouko

Edith Kouko
Project Officer Rice

Edith Kouko holds a B.Sc. degree in Agriculture (honors) from the University of
Nairobi, Kenya (with plant breeding, and quantitative and population genetics
being some of her best performed units) and an M.Sc. degree in Agriculture from
Yamagata University, Japan, with her thesis based on dissemination of New Rice
for Africa (NERICA) in Western Kenya. Before joining AATF, she served as a Sub
County Crops Development Officer (Nambale and Butula Sub Counties) and a Sub
County Agribusiness Development Officer (Butula and Samia Sub Counties) in the
State Department of Agriculture in Busia County for seven years. Her duties
included coordination of implementation of agribusiness and crop related
programmes and projects in Busia County such as National Accelerated
Agricultural Inputs Access Programme (NAAIAP), Kenya Agricultural Productivity
and Agribusiness Project (KAPAP) and Programme for Agriculture and Livelihoods
in Western Communities (PALWECO), preparation and implementation of work plans
and budgets, compilation of sectional reports, linking farmers to markets and
input suppliers and interacting closely with stakeholders along agricultural
value chains with the aim of supporting small scale producers achieve food
security and raise their household incomes. Edith was also involved in the New
Rice for Africa (NERICA) Dissemination Programme in Busia County. As Programme
Assistant in the Department of Technical Operations, Edith is responsible for
the coordination and submission of technical reports, preparation of project
documents, annual project budget reviews, project status reports and
participation in project review meetings. Edith is a Kenyan national.

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Caroline Thande

Caroline Thande
Administrative Assistant

Caroline M Thande has training in Business Management, Secretarial and on
various computer packages. Before joining AATF, she worked for CARE
International in Somalia, based in Nairobi, for 15 years in various capacities.
Before her departure, she was the Administration Assistant cum Executive
Secretary to the Country Director and the Assistant Country Director. Prior to
CARE, she worked with Catholic Brothers of St Charles Lwanga as secretary cum
receptionist. Caroline is a Kenyan National.

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Abed Mathagu

Abed Mathagu
Programme Officer, Regulatory Affairs

Abed Mathagu holds a Bsc. degree in Forestry from Moi University in Kenya, a
Msc. degree in Plant Pathology from the University of Nairobi in Kenya and a
Master’s degree in Biosafety from the University of Ancona in Italy. He is
currently enrolled for a PhD program at Jomo Kenyatta University in Kenya.
Before joining AATF, Abed was acting as the General Manager for Phytosanitary
and Biosafety Services at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).
He served in the National Biosafety Authority Board between 2010 and September
2014 as well as in its predecessor, the National Biosafety Committee from 2005
to 2009. Abed participated in the development of Kenya’s Biosafety Act and
Regulations as well as in different institutional biosafety committees,
including those of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the International Centre of
Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). He participated in the Codex Alimentarius
Commission’s Committee on Genetically Modified Food Labelling and Ad Hoc
Intergovernmental Taskforce on Foods Derived from Biotechnology which developed
the Codex Plant Guideline for GM Risk Assessment. Abed chaired the Technical
Committee on Biotechnology at the Kenya Bureau of Standards from 2009 to
September 2014. He has wide experience in regulatory work. As Programme Officer,
Regulatory Affairs, Abed is charged with coordinating planning, implementing and
monitoring of WEMA regulatory activities to secure permit approvals and ensure
compliance with regulatory requirements in partner countries. He is a citizen of
Kenya.

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George Agyemang Sarpong

George Agyemang Sarpong
Member, Board of Trustees

George Agyemang Sarpong is the Managing Partner of G.A. Sarpong & Co., Legal
Practitioners and Consultants, Accra, Ghana; and a former Director of the Ghana
School of Law. His specialist areas include Law of the Sea, Biotechnology, Land
Use Planning and Mining. George is an alumnus of the Faculty of Law University
of Ghana (LL.B. – 1981); the Ghana School of Law (B.L. – 1983); the University
of British Columbia (LL.M. International Law – 1984); and the University of
London School of Oriental and African Studies (LL.M. – Environmental Law,
Occasional Student – 1995). He has been the recipient of many awards,
fellowships and visiting scholarships, including from the UN (Human Rights
Studies, Geneva and Strasbourg) and the Universities of British Columbia,
Leiden, Nottingham, Queens (Belfast) and North-Western (United States).

George entered academia after a career in the Ghana Armed Forces. He trained at
the Ghana Military Academy and the Combat Arms School CFB Gagetown, New
Brunswick (Canada). He was commissioned into the Recce Regiment of the Ghana
Armed Forces in 1973, and served in various capacities including Squadron
Leader, 3 Squadron, Recce Regiment and Administrator at the Legal Services
Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces. He was a member of the Commission of
Enquiry into the Organisational Structure of the Ghana Armed Forces (General
Erskine Commission) in 1987-1989; and an Adjunct Lecturer of the Law of the Sea
at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. He honourably retired with
the rank of Major in 1990.

George joined the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana in 1990. He served for 16
years during which period he taught Public International Law, Law of Contract,
Business and Environmental Laws. He also served on several boards and committees
of the university. He has published extensively in local and international
journals on Public International and Environmental Law and attended several
training programmes and conferences in his areas of expertise. He has also been
involved in several initiatives as legal consultant to the Government of Ghana,
UN bodies and international agencies in the implementation of projects,
programmes and policies on sustainable development in several sectors including
irrigation, fisheries, wetlands, land use planning, biodiversity, biotechnology,
mining, plant health, environmental health and food safety.

George is a member of the Ghana Bar. He was a member of the African Union’s
High-Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology that provided a blueprint for
biotechnology in Africa. He is currently a member of the World Commission on
Environmental Law (WCEL) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN).

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Sylvia Horemans

Sylvia Horemans
Member, Board of Trustees

Sylvia possesses over 20 years management experience having worked across
diverse sectors comprising parastatal and private companies. She holds a higher
Diploma in Project Management from Cambridge University and various Diplomas in
Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, Business Management and
Administration, Sales and Marketing, and Certificates in Plant Breeding, Seed
Production and Agribusiness.

Sylvia joined Kamano Seed in 2004 and rose from Marketing Director to the
position of Chief Executive Officer/share holder. She has attended Seed Breeding
training in Sweden and Sri Lanka and is affiliated to Making Markets Matter
which has exposed her to a lot of international businesses. She is also a
committee member of Zambia Seed Traders Association.

Due to her hard work and determination, Kamano Seed was awarded 1st prize for
having marketed and sold the highest volume of orange maize seed under
HarvestPlus/Ag Result. Sylvia has passion for women and youth and is always
trying to better their lives. She has continued to play a big role in Zambia by
making sure that the small holder farmers are well taken care of through food
security.

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Jessica Fransisca Colaco

Jessica Fransisca Colaco

Jessica Francisca Colaço is the co-founder and VP of Growth and Success at Brave
Venture Labs based in Nairobi, London and San Francisco. Brave is a HR tech
company sourcing and matching talent to companies looking to build product
teams. She co-founded the iHub with Erik Hersman in 2010 and served in various
leadership positions – she was the Director of Partnerships and Community at
iHub, the Founding Manager between 2010 and 2011 at iHub and Research Director
between 2011 and 2013 at iHub Research.

Jessica also co-founded WMIAfrica and AkiraChix. She was the ISOC-Kenya Chapter
Treasurer in 2014, ACM-W Nairobi Chapter Chair 2014, TED Global Fellow 2009 and
Bass Guitarist with her band Bass ii IV. She was part of the DFID’s Digital
Advisory Panel team as a member and advisor in 2015.

Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Applied Computing and a BSc in Computer
Science, both from the University of Nairobi. She is an Ambassador at
blackbox.vc, a Public Speaker, MC, Director at Valuraha Group Ltd, Advisor at
Ma3Route, and a Startup and Tech Evangelist.

Jessica is a recipient of various honors and awards, including 1st Place –
Robotics Community Challenge – AFRON in 2014, Top 40 women under 40 in Kenya in
Tech and Business in 2012, 2011, and 2009, TED Global Fellow 2009, 100 Most
Influential Young Kenyans in 2016, 100 Most Influential Young Africans in 2017,
and Top 100 iHub Community Member.

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Noble Banadda

Noble Banadda
Member, Board of Trustees

Noble Banadda earned his Doctorate degree in chemical engineering at Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. He also had postdoctoral professional training
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Noble is a Professor of Biosystems Engineering at Makerere University and his
area of research is bioprocessing engineering specifically mathematic modeling
of biological systems and interactions. He led the team that pioneered the first
ever farmer-based low-cost multiple purpose vehicle in Uganda.

In 2013, Noble was inaugurated as the youngest fellow of Uganda National Academy
of Sciences. In 2015, he was honoured as a young scientist at the World Economic
Forum in Dalian, China, and in November 2018, he was selected as the winner of
the 2018 Pius XI Medal Award which is a global award given every two years by
the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to a scientist under the age of 45, who has
conducted and shown exceptional promise in scientific research. He is the first
African to receive this award since it was established in 1961.

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Hamadi Iddi Boga

Hamadi Iddi Boga
Member, Board of Trustees

Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for
Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and
Irrigation in the Government of Kenya. He is the former founding Principal of
Taita Taveta University and was its Vice Chancellor between 2007 and 2017. He
was a Professor in the Department of Botany at the Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology. His skills and interests are in biology,
agricultural science, sequencing, microbiology, molecular biological techniques
and RNA genes. He also has an interest in microbial ecology of insects’ guts,
soils and soda lakes and has worked with termites, the soda lakes of Kenya,
mangrove swamps, agricultural and forest soils and also on Mount Kenya glacier.
He has a PhD in Biology from Universität Konstanz in Germany.

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Nancy Muchiri

Nancy Muchiri
Senior Manager, Communications and Partnerships

Nancy Muchiri is a public relations practitioner with an MSc in Organisational
Development from the United States International University, Kenya; a BA from
the University of Nairobi; and a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communications
from the same university. She has also attended the Diploma in Management course
at the Kenya Institute of Management, Nairobi. Before joining AATF, Nancy worked
with the SOS Children’s Villages, an international child welfare organisation
where she established and headed the fundraising and communications department
for three years. Prior to that, she worked with the East African Portland Cement
Company Ltd as head of the public relations section for eleven years, providing
corporate and product communications leadership. Nancy is responsible for
managing the Foundation’s public and partnership relationships through strategic
communications to enhance visibility and positioning of the Foundation and its
projects. Nancy is Kenyan.

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Ingrid Wünning Tschol

Ingrid Wünning Tschol
Member, Board of Trustees

Ingrid Wünning Tschol received her PhD in Biology from the University of
Tübingen Germany. From 1985 -1990 she did her postdoctoral research at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and State University of New
York in Stony Brook, USA. Ingrid is Senior Vice President Strategy at the Robert
Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart.

Further stations in her career include a director’s position at Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft in Bonn/Germany and the position of the Head of Medical
Section at the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, France.

She serves on numerous national and international committees, including the
Board of Trustees of the University of Ulm, the International Steering and
Programme Committee of the Next Einstein Forum (NEF, Africa) which she
co-initiated, the Supervisory Board of the Euroscience Open Forum, the Food
Security Advisory Board of the University of Hohenheim and the Board of Trustees
of the Museum of Natural History, Berlin.

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Dame Anne Glover

Dame Anne Glover
Member, Board of Trustees

Anne Glover holds a BSc degree in Biochemistry from Edinburgh and a PhD degree
in Molecular Microbiology from Cambridge, UK. She has pursued a career in
scientific research at Aberdeen University and her research has been varied
including studying how proteins are directed to the correct location within our
cells, the diversity and function of the microbial population in soil, the
development of biological sensors (biosensors) to detect environmental pollution
and, more recently, how we respond to stress at the molecular level.

This current area of research has particular relevance to how we age (our cells
are under stress in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) and how we respond to
artificial stresses such as chemotherapy. Anne has commercialised some of her
biosensor technology into a successful company which diagnoses environmental
pollution and provides solutions for its clean-up.

In 2008 Anne was recognized as a Woman of Outstanding Achievement in Science,
Engineering and Technology (SET) and has worked hard to raise the profile of
women in SET and to ensure that not only are women recruited into careers in SET
but that they are supported to remain in the profession during their careers.
She has promoted the communication of science and has appeared on BBC and other
international television and many global radio programmes. In 2009, Anne was
awarded a CBE by the Queen in recognition of her services to environmental
sciences.

Anne was the first Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European
Commission (2012-2015). Prior to that, she was the first Chief Scientific
Adviser for Scotland (2006-2011). In both positions Anne transformed the way
science, engineering and technology were used and discussed within government
and developed strategic initiatives to bridge the gap between science and
policy. She has also been a very effective and well respected ambassador for
European science. Anne was also Vice Principal for External Affairs and Dean for
Europe at the University of Aberdeen and is presently Special Adviser to the
Principal of Strathclyde University.

Anne became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for
services to Science in the UK and Europe in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours
List.

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Jeremy T. Ouedraogo

Jeremy T. Ouedraogo
Member, Board of Trustees

Jeremy T. Ouedraogo, a scientist in genetics and plant breeding, holds a PhD
degree from the University Laval, Canada. His research focused on the use of
biotechnology tools in plant breeding. Jeremy is the Director of African
Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE). Prior to this appointment he was a plant
breeder, Head of the Plant Genetics and Biotechnology Laboratory in the national
research system of Burkina Faso. He has contributed to the creation of many
cowpea varieties that are released in Burkina Faso and other West African
countries.

Since 2002, Jeremy has been fully involved in biotechnology/biosafety strategy
development and implementation in his country. He has participated in the
committee which elaborated the biosafety guidelines for Bt Cotton trials and
contributed to the approval of the referred trials as a member of the Biosafety
Scientific Committee. Jeremy has been involved in the activities of public
awareness and communication on biotechnology engineered crops through more than
fifty presentations/conferences on modern biotechnology and GM crops in many
African countries. He has also been involved in new biotech crops projects for
Africa such as cowpea and sorghum in Burkina Faso. Jeremy has been a nominated
member of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) External Advisory Board hosted
by the Africa Harvest Foundation. Jeremy was an elected Member of the Burkina
Faso Parliament from 2007 to April 2011 where he contributed to strengthening
parliamentary awareness of biosciences issues. Jeremy served as Minister of
Animal Resources and Fisheries of Burkina Faso from 2011 to 2014.

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Emmanuel Okogbenin

Emmanuel Okogbenin
Director, Programme Development and Commercialization (PDC)

Emmanuel Okogbenin, a well-trained scientist in plant breeding, genetics, and
genomics with good background in agronomy, and physiology, has experience
spanning over 23 years working in and leading several research projects in
cassava at both international agricultural research (IAR) centres and national
agricultural research institutes (NARS). He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular
Genetics/Plant Breeding from the University of Ibadan. He conducted his thesis
research as a Rockefeller fellow with the International Center for Tropical
Agriculture (CIAT) Colombia. Emmanuel holds M.Sc. in Agronomy and B.Sc. in
Agriculture (Crop Science) degrees from the same university. As part of his PhD
programme, he took courses in statistical genetics at the North Carolina State
University, Raleigh. Emmanuel, a pioneer scientist in cassava biotechnology
research, led the CIAT team in QTL mapping studies on the crop. As a cassava
breeder/geneticist at CIAT, he led the Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS)
initiative for cassava mosaic disease (CMD) resistance resulting in the release
of the first CMD resistant Latin American cassava varieties in Africa. He
coordinated the activities of the CIAT Genetics Unit as part of his last duties
in Colombia. Emmanuel has in the last few years pioneered Marker-Assisted
Recurrent Selection (MARS) for drought tolerance and improved productivity of
cassava in marginal drought prone ecologies in Africa, in addition to leading
the cassava breeding community of practice in SSA under the platform of the
CGIAR-Generation Challenge Programme (GCP). In the course of his career he has
worked for IITA, Nigeria; CIAT, Colombia; NRCRI, Nigeria; CGIAR-GCP and the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Nigeria. In the
FMARD, he was a member of the ministerial core team for the cassava
transformation agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria. He has been a
consultant and collaborator with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre, USA
on international projects in Africa. Emmanuel’s publications include journal
articles, book chapters and conference papers presented at international and
national meetings. As the Director of Programme Development and
Commercialization (PDC), Emmanuel identifies opportunities for agricultural
technology interventions, assesses the feasibility and probability of success of
project concepts, identifies sources of appropriate technologies, negotiates
their access and deployment, and provides overall leadership in the
implementation of AATF’s project portfolio. Emmanuel is a national of Nigeria.

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Ruth Rotich

Ruth Rotich
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Ruth Jepkoech Rotich holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Kenyatta University
and is currently pursuing her Master of Arts Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation
at the African Nazarene University. Her areas of expertise include project
planning, coordination and implementation, results based monitoring and
evaluation, gender in development, and ICT for M&E and learning among others.
Prior to joining AATF, Ruth worked with the Mennonite Economic Development
Associates (MEDA) as an M&E Specialist/Head of Cross Cutting Services for the
Equitable Prosperity Through Private Sector Development Project which aims at
creating sustainable economic growth and reduce economic disparities by
supporting the development of profitable, competitive small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture, construction and extractives sectors in
Kenya. Ruth also worked in a number of capacities for the African Medical and
Research Foundation (AMREF) between 2012 and 2016, her last assignment as the
M&E Specialist in the USAID-Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprises Project
(KAVES). As Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at AATF, Ruth is responsible for
providing leadership to AATF in terms of M&E with a particular focus on the use
of scientifically sound methods of impact evaluation and the implementation of
the Foundation’s M&E framework and project-related M&E research and development
activities. Ruth is a Kenyan.

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Jane Achando

Jane Achando
Legal Officer

Jane Achando, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, holds a Masters Degree in
Business Administration (strategic management) from the Kenya Methodist
University, a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law and a
Bachelors of Law (LLB) from the University of South Africa. Prior to joining
AATF she worked at Family Health International (Kenya) as a Contract and Grants
Consultant where she was involved in the close out phase of the Aids Population
and Health Integrated Assistance II (APHIA) project. Jane has worked as a
litigation advocate at Kelly & Company Advocates and as a legal assistant at
Musyoka, Wambua & Katiku Advocates. At AATF, Jane is responsible for managing
the AATF Contract Lifecycle Management System, negotiating, drafting and
management of license agreements for technology development and deployment;
facilitating and coordinating the filing of project and institutional
intellectual property rights, updating and maintaining the intranet board
folder, assisting the Director of Legal Affairs with corporate compliance
functions; organising and facilitating project intellectual property meetings;
assisting the Director of Legal Affairs in managing the AATF Technology and
Innovation Support Centre; and assisting in intellectual property trainings for
AATF and other partners. Jane is a Kenya

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Moussa Elhadj Adam

Moussa Elhadj Adam
Director Finance & Administration

Moussa Elhadj Adam holds an MBA from Laval University in Canada, an MA in
Economic sciences from Benin University in Togo and professional accounting
qualifications. Before joining the AATF he worked in various capacities in
various African countries with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for
over ten years at different levels of management where he was instrumental in
helping solve problems in various UNDP offices worldwide. In 1999, he was
appointed by the New York UNDP Human Resource office as the first sub-regional
classification specialist. In 2003 he was appointed, among other experienced
staff, as Common Service Expert to assist in achieving the UN Secretary
General’s reform agenda on common services and premises. Elhadj has also worked
in his home country in the Office of Control and Orientation of Industry in the
Ministry of Mines and Industry before being reassigned to the National Office of
Mineral Resources where he worked for about two years as the head of Studies and
Documentation. He has also been a lecturer in accounting, economics and
financial mathematics in various institutions in Niger such as the National
School of Administration, the National School of Insurance, the National School
of Statistics and Assistant Teacher at the University Abdoul Moumouni Dioffo.
Elhadj has experience in financial management, and human resource administration
and logistics. His greatest skills are interpersonal skills which enable him to
create a motivating environment for the human resource in an organisation.
Elhadj is a national of Niger.
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Ousmane Badiane

Ousmane Badiane
Chair, Board of Trustees

Ousmane Badiane is the Founder and Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063 which
is an international non-profit organization with headquarters in Rwanda and a
regional office in Senegal. AKADEMIYA2063’s overall mission is to create
state-of-the art technical capacities across Africa to support the efforts by
the Member States of the African Union to achieve the key goals of the Agenda
2063 of transforming national economies to boost growth and prosperity. He also
initiated the Malabo Montpellier Panel which encourages policy innovations for
better development outcomes by bringing together leading global experts and
decision-makers. He was the Africa Director for the International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI). In this role, he oversaw the institute’s two
regional offices for West and Central Africa in Dakar and Eastern and Southern
Africa in Addis Ababa. He coordinated IFPRI’s work program in the areas of food
policy research, capacity strengthening, and policy communications in Africa. He
was also in charge of IFPRI’s partnerships with African institutions dealing
with the above areas.As an Advisor to the NEPAD Secretariat from 2004 to 2007,
he was instrumental in developing and guiding the implementation of the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Before his
tenure at IFPRI, Dr Badiane, a national of Senegal, was Lead Specialist for Food
and Agricultural Policy for the Africa Region at the World Bank from January
1998 to August 2008. He previously worked at IFPRI as Senior Research Fellow
from 1989 to 1997, when he led the institute’s work on market reforms and
development.

While at IFPRI, he taught Economics of Development in Africa, as adjunct
professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies
from 1993 to 2003. Dr Badiane received a Master’s Degree and PhD in agricultural
economics from the University of Kiel in Germany.

His awards include a Doctoral Degree Honoris Causa from the University of
KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, induction as Fellow of the African Association of
Agricultural Economics and the Africa Food Prize in 2015.

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