Board & Staff

• Board of Directors »
• Office of the Board Chairman »
• Office of the President »
• Office of the Vice President, Policy and Partnerships »
• Strategy, Monitoring, and Evaluation »
• Program for Africa's Seed Systems »
• Market Access Program »
• Soil Health Program »
• Operations Department »
• Special Initiatives »

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kofi A Annan, Chairman of the Board; Secretary General of the United Nations (1997-2006), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Mr Annan accepted an appointment as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGRA in June 2007. Mr Annan previously served as United Nations Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006. During his tenure, Mr Annan was a resolute advocate for human rights, the rule of law, and the revitalization of the United Nations. He played a key role in mobilizing a global effort to combat malaria and HIV/AIDS. He was instrumental in laying out the Millennium Development Goals, a strategy to meet the needs of the world’s poorest by 2015. On 10th December 2001, Mr Annan and the United Nations received the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in Ghana in 1938, Mr Annan pursued postgraduate studies in Minnesota and Geneva, and received a Master‘s of Science in Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr Annan, a Ghanaian citizen, currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland.



Mohamed Ibrahim, Founder of the telecommunications company Celtel, Founder and Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Board Member of the Africa Regional Advisory Board of London Business School



Monty Jones, First Executive Secretary of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in Accra, Ghana. Dr Jones was the first African winner of the World Food Prize in 2004. In 2007, he was voted one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.



Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Econet Wireless International, Johannesburg, South Africa; Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2002, Mr Masiyiwa was named to Time Magazine's Global Business Influentials List.



Sylvia M Mathews, President of Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) overseeing grants and advocacy activities. Mrs Mathews previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of BMGF.



Moise C Mensah, Former Minister of Finance of Benin; Former Assistant President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; member of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s 2020 Vision International Advisory Committee.



Rudy Rabbinge, Professor at Wageningen University and one of the main authors of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Prof Rabbinge is currently the chairman of the CGIAR Science Council.



Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Rodin was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania and the first woman to lead an Ivy League institution.



Roy Steiner, Deputy Director, Global Development Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; previously founded and ran Cyberplex Holdings.

Nadya K. Shmavonian is the president of Public/Private Ventures, a nonprofit organization that is a national leader in creating and strengthening programs that improve lives in low-income communities.She formerly served as the vice president for strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation and the executive vice president of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

OFFICE OF THE BOARD CHAIRMAN

Dr Tesfai Tecle,
Special Advisor to the Chairman
Dr Tecle brings AGRA more than 30 years of experience in management, policy development and investment in rural development and agriculture in developing countries. Prior to joining AGRA, he was the Assistant Director-General and Head of Technical Cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome. He has served in various senior capacities at the UN, worked with the Institute of Development Research in Ethiopia and the World Bank in Washington DC. Dr Tecle has a PhD in International Economics and Development from Cornell University (USA).

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Dr Namanga Ngongi,
President
Dr Ngongi has extensive experience in agricultural development, peace and security issues. He began his career alongside farmers in his native Cameroon, where he worked as an agricultural extension officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, helping farmers to improve yields and to diversify and market their crops. In 1980, Dr Ngongi was attached to the Cameroon Embassy in Rome. He joined the World Food Programme in 1984, becoming Deputy Executive Director in 1994. Dr Ngongi held that position until his appointment as Undersecretary-General and Special Representative and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001. Since his retirement from the UN in 2003, Dr Ngongi has undertaken several high-level missions, including a study on food reserve systems in Africa and coordination of an international conference on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Sierra Leone. Born in 1945 in Buea, Cameroon, Dr Ngongi obtained his PhD in Agronomy from Cornell in 1976.

Dr Franck Attere,
Special Assistant to the President of AGRA
Dr Attere, a national of Benin Republic, joined AGRA in 2008 from the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya. There he had multiple roles: Senior Program Officer in the Division for Early Warning and Assessment; consultant in the Regional Office for Africa; and consultant in the Evaluation and Oversight Unit. Prior to that, he was Regional Director for sub-Sahara Africa for the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IBPGR – now known as Bioversity) of the CGIAR and Regional Director for the Central Africa Regional Program Office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Libreville, Gabon. Early in his career, Dr Attere worked as a Research Associate at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria, and a Training/Extension Officer at the Pan-African Jesuit NGO INADES-Formation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Dr Attere holds a PhD in Biological Sciences (Plant Genetic Conservation and Use) from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Richard Boadi,
Board Secretary
Mr Boadi, a Ghanaian national, joined AGRA in May 2009. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Cornell University, School of Law, Ithaca, New York; a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra; and a Barrister-at-Law diploma from the Ghana School of Law. Mr Boadi worked previously as Legal Counsel with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF); Senior Attorney with the New York State Office for Technology; and held other legal positions in the State of New York. He has several years of experience in governance, contract negotiations, corporate affairs, administration and personnel and intellectual property management, among others.

Ms Alma Redillas Dolot,
Head of Internal Audit Unit
Ms. Redillas Dolot, a native of the Philippines, has over 15 years of experience in internal auditing, accounting, financial management, project evaluation, and enterprise risk management. Prior to joining AGRA, she worked for the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) as its Senior Internal Auditor and for the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as a Risk Management Specialist. Ms Redillas Dolot is a Certified Public Accountant; a Certified Internal Auditor; and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, POLICY AND PARTNERSHIPS

Dr Akinwumi Adesina,
Vice President for Policy and Partnerships
Dr Adesina has over 20 years of experience in African agriculture, development policy and rural development. Dr Adesina was a lead organizer of the Africa Fertilizer Summit for African heads of state in 2006. He was instrumental in framing the soil health policies adopted there by over 40 African governments, the African Union the New Partnership of African Development (NEPAD), and other leading global development institutions. Dr Adesina, a Nigerian citizen, previously worked in senior research leadership positions at IITA, WARDA and ICRISAT. In July 2007, he received the YARA Prize for the African Green Revolution in Oslo for his pioneering work with agricultural inputs and agro-dealer networks in Africa. In 2008, he was honored with Purdue University’s College of Agriculture Distinguished Agricultural Alumni Award, for his inspiring leadership in spearheading transformative change in African agriculture. Dr Adesina holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University (USA).

Mr Nega Wubeneh,
Program Officer, Policy Partnerships (Marketing and Trade Policy)
Mr Wubeneh, a citizen of Ethiopia, is currently a PhD candidate in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University (USA), specializing in International Development and Policy. He has over 20 years of experience in quantitative policy analysis, project management and monitoring and evaluation. His PhD research is an-ex ante assessment of the anticipated impact of a package of agricultural technologies, combined with a warehouse receipt program, on household-level income and nutrition in the semi-arid areas of Northern Ethiopia. Prior to joining AGRA, Mr Wubeneh worked as an Agricultural Research Officer in the Standing Panel for Impact Assessment (SPIA) of the CGIAR Science Council Secretariat office in the FAO. There he focused on system-level ex-post impact assessments of CGIAR research and on impact performance monitoring of the CGIAR centers. He also worked for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as a senior Research Assistant in the Livestock Policy Analysis Program.

Dr Augustine Langyintuo,
Program Officer, Policy and Partnership (Seeds and Fertilizer Policies)
Dr Langyintuo, a Ghanaian national, earned his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University (USA). Prior to joining AGRA, Dr Langyintuo worked for over 20 years as an agricultural economist in several national and international research institutes. His recent African seed sector research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where he worked from 2003-2009, provides a firm foundation for future seed policy research and development in Africa. Dr. Langyintuo has supervised both undergraduate and graduate students in various universities in Africa and abroad, and his supervisory efforts now focus on graduate students in development policy analysis. Over the years, he has effectively sourced research funding from various donors, and most recently, he played a significant role in developing the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project currently being implemented by CIMMYT with funding from the BMGF and Howard Buffet Foundation.

Dr Joan Cuka Kagwanja,
Program Officer, Policy and Partnerships (Land, Property Rights and Environment Policy)
Dr Kagwanja is from Kenya, and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia (USA), and brings 15 years of experience to AGRA. Dr Kagwanja joined AGRA from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), where she was instrumental in designing, fund raising and building partnerships for a multi-stakeholder process that saw the development of the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa. This Framework was endorsed in April 2009 by the African Union (AU) Meeting of African Ministers of Agriculture and Land. A Declaration on Land Policy in Africa, resulting from the same work, was adopted by the AU Summit of African Heads of States and Government in July 2009. While at ECA, where she served for eight years, Dr Kagwanja provided technical input into CAADP processes beginning in 2001 and continuously advocated for gender issues in agriculture, as well as a value chain approach to the development of African agriculture and markets.

Mr John A. Wakiumu,
Program Officer, Innovative Finance, Policy and Partnerships
Mr Wakiumu, a Kenyan citizen, has over 15 years of financial sector experience, most of it at senior management level. Prior to joining AGRA, he worked at Amana Advisory Limited, first as manager and later as an associate director for corporate finance. Previously, he was a manager for capital markets at First Africa Capital, where he headed research on blue chip companies in banking, insurance and retirement benefits, and agriculture and agro-processing on 14 sub-Saharan Africa stock exchanges. As a professional investment banker, he was at one time the manager of corporate finance at Citibank N.A. in Nairobi, responsible for providing detailed financial analyses including projections, cash-flow analysis, valuation of companies, and evaluation of equity investment proposals. He gained international banking experience in the USA at McTeague Investment Bankers; Smith, Graham & Co. Asset Manager; and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Discover & Co. He holds a Masters in Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from Yale School of Management, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Mr Nixon Bugo,
Program Officer, Innovative Finance, Policy and Partnership Program
Mr Bugo, a Kenyan national, brings to AGRA over 15 years of experience in investment management, corporate and international development finance, investment banking, and technical assistance and advisory services spanning more than 20 African countries. He previously worked as partner and director in charge of the development advisory service at De Chazal Du Mee, a leading professional services provider in Africa; chief manager and head of investment banking at Co-operative Bank of Kenya; financial consultant for corporate financial services at PricewaterhouseCoopers; corporate finance and credit manager at African Banking Cooperation; and consultant at Arthur Andersen Worldwide Organization. He has spearheaded a number of development programs in Africa in the areas of public and private sector development; micro small and medium enterprises; social development programs; and community activities including microfinance policy development in Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria. He served as a technical director on the smallholder farmers financing project in Kenya for The Netherlands’ Common Fund for Commodities. He is a certified accountant and holds a Masters in Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Maria Mulindi
Associate Program Officer, Civil Society, Advocacy & Partnerships 
Ms. Maria Mulindi, a Kenyan national earned her Masters of Arts (Gender & Development) from the University of Nairobi. Prior to joining AGRA, Ms. Mulindi worked for over 10 years (1992-2005) at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in various administrative positions including the Executive Officer in the Director General’s Office.  Her focus has since shifted into Gender Analysis and Mainstreaming in agriculture.  She has worked on long-term consultancies with the FAO-Farmer Field Schools, The Johns Hopkins School for Public Health, Kenya Human Rights Commission and other national and international institutes as a Gender Consultant advocating for greater attention to gender perspectives, providing rationale and advice on approaches to support mainstreaming throughout these organizations.  She was a major contributor to the International Bibliography for Women’s Rights in Agriculture of 2007 and has effectively raised funding from various donors to support various family and gender based non-governmental organisations in Kenya.

STRATEGY, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Mr Samuel Amanquah,
Program Officer, Monitoring & Evaluation
Mr Amanquah, a Ghanaian citizen, joined AGRA from the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands in Ghana where he worked in various capacities, eventually rising to become Head of the Greater Accra Regional Office. He was a member of the customary land facilitation team under the World Bank funded Land Administration Project in Ghana and held the position of a Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Officer for over six years under the Ghana Land Administration Project. A Chevening scholar, he holds a Masters in Renewable Natural Resources and Development from the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK) and a Bachelors in Land Economy from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana).

Ms Barbara Bamanya,
Program Officer, Monitoring & Evaluation (Currently acting Officer-in-Charge)
Ms Bamanya, a Ugandan citizen, holds a Master of Science degree in Social Work from Goteborg University (Sweden) and a Bachelors degree in Social Work and Social Administration from Makerere University (Uganda). Spanning an 11 year career as an M & E specialist, Ms Bamanya joined AGRA from the PEMFA Secretariat, Ministry of Finance and National Planning in Lusaka, Zambia, where she served for more than two years in the Ministry’s monitoring and evaluation group. Her other experience as an M & E specialist was with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in Nairobi, Kenya and the Ugandan Government.

Mr Richard Michael Mwanza,
Program Officer, Strategy & Proposal Development
Mr Mwanza, a Malawi national, holds a Masters degree in Rural Social Development and has more than 15 years experience facilitating rural development programs at senior levels with international NGOs in Malawi, Zambia, Ghana and Togo, with a focus on sustainable agriculture and organizational development. He previously worked as the Agricultural Advisor for the Christian Council of Malawi; Sustainable Livelihoods and Food Security Program Manager for Concern Universal in Malawi; Africa Program Director for Harvest Help UK; and Managing Director for RORUM Consult. He was a fellow to the Initiative for the Development and Equity in African Agriculture – IDEA, a Rockefeller and Kellogg Foundations supported fellowship program in Southern Africa focused on finding solutions to African agricultural challenges. He has served as a member to the Southern African Bean Research Network (SABRIN) coordinated by CIAT and facilitated strategic plans for over 15 organizations.

Emmanuel R. Rutsimba,
Program Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation (attached to Soil Health Program)
Mr Rutsimba--Rwandese national--is a development management practitioner specializing in monitoring and evaluation. He brings to AGRA over 15 years of experience in high level donor-funded projects management, program evaluation, donor procurement and disbursement procedures, funding negotiations, and managing consulting. As a monitoring and evaluation specialist with a World Bank funded project in Rwanda, he supported the government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, to initiate the process of establishing the National Monitoring and Evaluation System. This system facilitates Sector Government Ministries to track performance in achieving their targets enshrined in the National Medium-term Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. He holds a Masters Degree in Rural Development from the University of East Anglia in the UK.

PROGRAM FOR AFRICA'S SEED SYSTEMS

Dr Joseph DeVries,
Director, Program for Africa Seed Systems
Dr DeVries, a citizen of the USA, began his career in Africa in 1986 as a United Nations volunteer building irrigated rice systems in drought-afflicted areas of West Africa’s northern Sahel region. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he delivered seed of staple food crops and technical assistance to Mozambican farmers trapped behind the front lines of the country’s civil war. He earned a PhD in plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University in 1994, after which he joined World Vision International as Director for Food Security in Africa, based in Accra, Ghana. In 1995, Dr DeVries became World Vision’s National Director for Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 1997, he joined The Rockefeller Foundation, where he developed a new initiative on genetic improvement of African crops and a farmer-responsive seed system. In 2006, he led a team that created the crop genetic improvement and seed systems development program, which subsequently became the first program of the newly formed AGRA.

Dr George Bigirwa,
Senior Program Officer, Program for Africa's Seed System
Dr Bigirwa, a Ugandan national, holds a PhD in Plant Pathology. He has worked in various disciplines including crop breeding that resulted in the release of six maize and five rice varieties widely grown in Uganda and the neighboring countries of Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo and Southern Sudan. Prior to joining AGRA, Dr Bigirwa worked for 22 years with Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO). He served as NARO’s National Coordinator of Maize and Rice Research, a post he held for 8 years. Dr Bigirwa has chaired the Maize and Wheat Network for Eastern and Central Africa (ECAMAW) and the East and Central Africa Rice Research Network (ECARRN), and has been instrumental in linking private seed companies to public research institutions throughout the region – linkages that are critical to expediting smallholder farmer access to new varieties.

Dr Jane Ininda,
Program Officer, Crop Improvement and Farmer Variety Adoption
Dr Ininda, a Kenyan national, holds a PhD in Plant Breeding from Iowa State University, where she received the C.R. Weber Award for outstanding achievement in graduate study in Crop Science. She has been involved in agricultural development for over 25 years, carrying out extensive research on wheat, soybean and maize. As a breeder, Dr Ininda developed 26 commercial hybrid maize varieties for the mid-altitude areas of Kenya, varieties that have superior resistance to the maize streak virus that is endemic to those areas. Over her career, Dr Ininda founded several key crop-breeding networks, including the Maize Breeders Network for Eastern and Southern Africa. She continues to work with a number of professional groups and associations, all of which are dedicated to building a critical mass of well-networked African agricultural scientists focused on improving the continent’s primary staple crops.

 
Dr Issoufou Kapran,
Program Officer, Seed Production and Dissemination
Dr Kapran is from Niger and holds a PhD in plant breeding from Purdue University, USA. He was awarded two fellowships (one each from the McKnight Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation) for academic studies and applied research in Africa. Dr Kapran, who is based in AGRA’s Ghana office, has over 20 years of experience in breeding and seed system development in West Africa. He has worked closely with a number of international partners, including INTSORMIL, ICRISAT, IITA, EMBRAPA-MS and Cornell University. He served as a senior scientist at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), where he developed the country’s very first commercial sorghum hybrids. Dr Kapran began a seed unit within INRAN to produce quality foundation seed in support of the country’s fledgling private seed sector. Throughout his career, he actively contributed to the harmonization of seed regulations in nine Sahalian countries, work that laid the foundation for current efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to standardize such regulations today.

Dr Rufaro Madakadze,
Program Officer, Education and Training
Dr Madakadze is a Zimbabwean national and a horticultural scientist, trained at Michigan State University (USA) and the University of Guelph, Ontario (Canada). Before joining AGRA, she worked for 18 years as a professor of crop sciences, first at the University of Zululand (South Africa) and then at the University of Zimbabwe, where for 3 years she served as head of the Department of Crop Sciences. Dr Madakadze sat on the Agriculture Panel of the National Research Foundation (a prestigious institution that supports most of the research in South Africa), evaluating proposals for funding agricultural research and development. She is a member of the CTA Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and is currently on the planning committee of the African Crop Science Society.

Dr Kehinde O. Makinde,
Program Officer, Agro-dealer Development
Dr Makinde, a Nigerian national, is an Agricultural Economist with over 20 years experience in national and international agricultural research and development, including market-led smallholder agricultural commercialization. Based in AGRA’s Ghana office, Dr Makinde’s professional background encompasses diverse research-for-development projects, with primary concentration on developing programs that link low-level agricultural production issues to the potential for market-led agricultural commercialization. While at IITA, he implemented programs that successfully transferred improved agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers in diverse agro-ecologies across sub-Saharan Africa. He has served as a consultant to many international organizations, including FAO, DFID, CIAT, CTA, IFDC, The Rockefeller Foundation and Winrock International. He has coordinated multi-stakeholder USAID initiatives responding to the needs of smallholder farmers, traders and private sector actors. Prior to joining AGRA, he was the agricultural marketing specialist and business manager of the southern business promotion office of the USAID-funded MARKETS project.

Mr Fred Muhhuku,
Program Officer, Agro-dealer Development
Mr Muhhuku, a Ugandan national, holds an MSc in Marketing and Product Management from Cranfield University (UK), as well as a number of postgraduate certificates in Seed Technology and Seed Industry Development from the Netherlands and Sweden. Prior to joining AGRA, Mr Muhhuku worked for USAID and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), where he developed action plans for strengthening agro-input markets in eastern and southern Africa. He was instrumental in the development of the agro-dealer network in Uganda. Mr Muhhuku also worked for Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, rising to the position of Deputy Director and Seed Marketing Manager before retiring from the Ministry in 2000. He has extensive experience in agro-dealer and seed industry development from both the public- and private-sector perspectives, and he was a key contributor to developing Uganda’s vibrant private sector-led seed industry.

Dr Aboubacar Touré,
Program Officer, Crop Improvement and Farmer Variety Adoption
Dr Touré, a Malian national, earned his PhD in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University (USA). He brings nearly 30 years of diverse national and international experience to AGRA, beginning with his appointment as a Senior Researcher at the Institut d’Economie Rural of Mali in 1981. He rose to the position of Sorghum Team Leader and Plant Breeder in 1992, a position he held till 2007. He also served as the Country Coordinator of the INTSORMIL / IER project during that time, as well as the coordinator of the West and Central Africa Sorghum Research Network. As the Sorghum Team Leader at IER, Mali, Dr Touré, developed and implemented research projects leading to the release of new, higher yielding crop varieties – especially sorghum, one of the major staples in Mali. Before joining AGRA, he participated in a countrywide PASS study of the “Opportunities and Limiting Factors Related to the Development of Effective Seed Systems in Mali”, and also assisted in PASS implementation planning for Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

MARKET ACCESS PROGRAM

Mrs Anne Mbaabu,
Director, Market Access Program
Mrs Mbaabu, a Kenyan national, holds an MSc in Food Science & Technology from the University of Nairobi. Prior to joining AGRA, Mrs Mbaabu was the Executive Director of the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) in Nairobi. She has held a number of senior management positions and undertaken consultancies in management in the food industry with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Centre for Development of Enterprise and Swedish International Development Agency (CDE-SIDA). Mrs Mbaabu brings to AGRA more than 30 years experience in a wide range of areas, including agriculture, commerce, institutional development, trade systems and strategic planning.

Mr Stephen Kiuri Njukia,
Senior Program Officer, Market Access Program
Mr Njukia, a Kenyan national, holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics, International Trade and Finance from Texas Tech University (USA). He has extensive experience in business management and development, as well as in the trading of various physical commodities and their derivatives. He worked at Chemonics Kenya Limited as a Commodity Marketing Specialist of the Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support Program (RATES), a USAID funded project whose objective is to promote Regional Agricultural Trade in 10 countries within East and Southern Africa region. He previously worked with Cargill Inc., as a commodity trader in the United States, Europe and South Africa, and later headed the East Africa Regional Trading Desk in Nairobi, Kenya. Mr Njukia is also a co-founder of the Lion Coffee Company, a brokerage firm specializing in trading primarily with African commodities.

Mr Matiéyédou Konlambigue,
Program Officer, Market Access Program
Mr. Matiéyédou Konlambigue, a Togolese national, joins AGRA’s Markets Program in the Accra office from International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) North and West Africa Division where he has been the Regional Advisor on Value Chain Economics and Rural Finance. His responsibilities have included coordinating agribusiness and rural finance activities in seven West African countries. Matiéyédou has 9 years’ experience in rural finance, analysis of agricultural and food industry projects, agricultural value chain development and monitoring & evaluation of projects. He has held various positions at IFDC namely: Agricultural Economist and Economist Rural Finance Specialist.  He holds a Masters degree in Rural Economy and Sociology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium and a Master degree in Agronomy (Major: Agricultural Economics) from the University of Lomé’s School of Agronomy.

SOIL HEALTH PROGRAM

Dr Bashir Jama,
Director, Soil Health Program
Dr Jama, a Kenyan citizen, holds a PhD in Agro forestry from the University of Florida at Gainesville (USA). Dr Jama has worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York as a policy adviser responsible for conducting country-level needs assessments. He has developed policy options for increasing investment in agriculture and for spurring rural development aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Before joining UNDP, he worked for over 19 years as principal soil scientist and a regional coordinator with the World Agro forestry Centre (ICRAF) in Nairobi. Dr Jama has also served as a member of a number of international scientific committees, including the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force. He is an associate editor of several agricultural and natural resource management journals, and has published over 50 publications, many focused on integrated soil fertility management practices under smallholder low-input systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr André Bationo,
Senior Program Officer, Soil Health Program &
Director, AGRA Accra Office
Dr Bationo is from Burkina Faso, and holds a PhD in Soil Chemistry from Laval University (Canada). Prior to joining AGRA, Dr Bationo was the Coordinator of the African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet) and the Deputy Director of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Before that he was a Principal Soil Scientist seconded to ICRISAT’s Sahelian Centre by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). For 20 years, Dr. Bationo has conducted research aimed at combating land degradation and declining soil fertility in Africa. Throughout his career, he has mentored many African researchers. In 2004, the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, UK, nominated him as International Scientist of the Year. In 2008, Dr Bationo received an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and in 2009 he received the annual award from the International Fertilizer Industry Association in Shanghai for his work in soil health.

Dr Rebbie Harawa,
Program Officer, Soil Health Research & Extension
Dr Harawa joined AGRA from the UNDP-Millennium Villages Project in Malawi where she was a Team Leader and Science Coordinator. This is a multi-sectoral project aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) at the local community level. She is a soil scientist and previously worked with the World Agroforestry Center, where she implemented on-farm trials on performance of agroforestry in nitrogen depleted and drought prone areas of southern Malawi. She also worked for the World Food Program as a Food Aid Monitor, designing food-for-work projects in collaboration with district commissioners and rural communities. As a onetime consultant at the Ministry of Agriculture in Malawi, she consolidated information for developing a National Agriculture Research Master Plan. She holds a PhD in Soil Science from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Mr Amatévi Raoul Klutsé,
Program Officer, Fertilizer Business Development
Mr Klutsé, a Togolese citizen, is a seasoned agro-economist with 19 years of experience in rural and urban livelihood programs including community development, input accessibility and use, agricultural statistics, extension and rural finance among others. He joined the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) in 1998 as a database manager and later became an Information Systems Specialist. From 2005, he facilitated the development of an agricultural stakeholders’ network through the Agribusiness Information Point concept in West Africa. He started his career as a research assistant at the Togo University before joining CARE international in a program that promoted farmer organizations. He holds a Masters in Agricultural Economics from the University of Lomé, Togo.

Mr Argent Chuula,
Program Officer, Fertilizer Business Development
Prior to joining AGRA, Argent held key positions in Agribusiness and private sector organizations in SADC and COMESA countries. In his last assignment, he was General Manager & CEO for Bain New Holland Group (Zambia) Limited, a private company supplying new Holland Agricultural machinery and inputs (Seed, fertilizer and pesticides) to Farmers. Previously, he worked at: The ScanAgri (a Danish-Finnish Agribusiness Consulting company) as agribusiness Development advisor, implementing Agribusiness development project in Northern Zambia; Zambia Sugar Plc (A British Tate & Lyle Group Company); Zambia Cooperatives Federation Limited as Managing Director & CEO; Germany Technical Cooperation-GTZ in Southern Africa first as Agribusiness Development Researcher and later as Senior Technical Advisor –Agricultural Marketing & Entrepreneurship Development. He was instrumental in the success of introducing and implementing Agricultural training in Zambia’s Sugar Industry since the 1990s and later in reorganizing the cooperative movement in Zambia.He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing and Finance from Africa University, Zimbabwe.

Dr Marie Rarieya,
Program Officer, Soil Health Training Program
Dr. Rarieya, a Kenyan citizen, joined AGRA in 2009. Prior to this, she was a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow with the Sustainable Development Governance Program at the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies in Yokohama, Japan. Previously, she was a Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She brings with her more than 10 years of experience working on sustainable development issues in Africa at two different institutions, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the former International Livestock Centre for Africa (now ILRI), both based in Nairobi, Kenya. She holds a Doctorate in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA; a Masters degree in Computer Based Information Systems from Sunderland University, Sunderland, UK; and a Bachelors degree in Education (Biological Sciences) from Nairobi University, Nairobi, Kenya.

OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT

Mr Kwame Akuffo-Akoto, Chief Operating Officer
Mr Akuffo-Akoto, a Ghanaian national, has spent the last 28 years in Africa and Asia working in financial management support to international agricultural research for development. He is a certified chartered accountant (South West London College, UK). Mr Akuffo-Akoto started his international career with the CGIAR as the Financial Controller with the Africa Rice Centre (WARDA) in Liberia, rising to the position of Director for Finance and Administration. In 1996, he moved to the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India, as Director for Finance and Administration. From 2002 to 2007, he worked at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in Los Banos, Philippines, as the Director of Management Services.

Mrs N. Vuhya Amulyoto, Human Resources and Administration Manager
Mrs N. Vuhya Amulyoto, a Kenyan citizen and HR Professional, is the Human Resources and Administration Manager. She holds a Master of Business Administration Degree (Human Resources Management) from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (English and Secretarial Studies) from Kenyatta University. She joined AGRA in April 2007 from The Rockefeller Foundation, where she worked as the Human Resources & Office Administration Manager from 2003-2007. Prior to this, Vuhya worked in various program and general administration roles at the Rockefeller Foundation and in the editorial department of the African Academy of Sciences. She brings to AGRA more than 20 years of combined experience in program and general administration work, and human resources. 

Mr Jared Odhingo, Finance Manager
Mr Odhingo, a Kenyan citizen is a finance and accounting specialist. He joined AGRA in January 2009 from the International Livestock Research Center (ILRI), where he was the Budgets and Grants Manager. He has worked with ILRI for the last 13 years in various capacities within the finance and accounting department. In this position, his overall responsibility was to assist ILRI management and all budget holders across the Institute to ensure that ILRI’s financial resources are planned, monitored and managed in the most effective and efficient manner. Previously, Odhingo worked with the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) for 4 years as an Accountant. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Business Administration (Strategic Planning major) from Herriot-Watt University, Scotland, through a distance learning program.

Mr Ignatius Mutula, Grants Manager
Mr Mutula, a Kenyan citizen, brings to AGRA over 10 years experience in grants management, information systems, finance and program management. Prior to joining AGRA, he administered grants for African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) and PACT Kenya. Some of his tasks included coordination, capacity building and grants management of large multi-donor, multi-year, multi-million dollar funded programs focusing on grant making and building capacity of civil society organizations. He is a cofounder and research associate of the institute of grants management, InfoGrant. As a grants specialist, he has previously been invited to lecture on grants management in some regional universities including Kenya College of Accountancy (KCA) University and Strathmore University and has been a resource person in grants steering committees and donor and stakeholder forums across Africa. He is a certified accountant and holds a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Mr Sylvester Kisonzo, Information Technology Services Manager
Mr Kisonzo, a Kenyan citizen, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics & Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Management Information Systems from the University of Greenwich/Strathmore University and a Master of Science degree in Information Systems from the University of Nairobi. An IT expert, Kisonzo was previously Chief Technology Officer at SecureNET Technologies (K) Ltd, where his responsibility included setting the overall business strategy and development. At the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), where he served as the Site IT Manager, Kisonzo actively participated in the evaluation, development, operations and management of information technology systems to support organizational requirements. He has also been involved in special assignments in areas such as IT infrastructure solutions, IT security, Business Continuity Planning, and ICT Project Management. He holds various professional certifications in IT, which include a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM).

SPECIAL INITIATIVES

Mr André Dellevoet, Executive Manager, African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF)
Mr Dellevoet, from The Netherlands, holds a Masters in Law from Maastricht University (the Netherlands) and a Masters Degree in Political Science from Leiden University (the Netherlands). He joined AECF, which is hosted by AGRA, in October 2008 as its Executive Manager. Mr Dellevoet is an expert in private sector development and economic growth, good governance and leadership, corporate social responsibility and ethical business, and development cooperation. He began his career in the Dutch diplomatic service in 1991, working mostly on African affairs, economic growth and development cooperation. He has served as a Member of the Board of Pugwash, The Netherlands, on the North-South Advisory Committee to the Members of Parliament of the Dutch Labour Party, on the Board of the Dutch National Commission for Sustainable Development, on the Board of The Netherlands-Africa Business Council, and as the Chairman of the Board of Fair Pen Foundation, The Netherlands. Mr Dellevoet served as Deputy Head of Mission at The Netherlands Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo from 2006 to 2008.

Mr Hiroshi Hiraoka, Coordinator, Coalition for African Rice Development
Mr Hiraoka, a Japanese citizen, holds a Master of Agriculture (Soil Science) from the University of Tokyo, and a Master of Science (Agriculture, Environment and Development) from the University of East Anglia (UK). He is seconded to AGRA from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as the Coordinator of the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) Secretariat. Mr Hiraoka’s professional career began as a fertilizer researcher for Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd. in 1993. He joined JICA in 1999 as an agricultural expert in the Sultanate of Oman, and subsequently spent six years as a Soil Fertility Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 2006, he was assigned by JICA as an agricultural policy advisor for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan before assuming his current post in 2008.