Executive Council

Represented by

Dr Oseyemi (Yemi) O Akinbamijo

Executive Director

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

About FARA : The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa is the apex continental organization responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development (AR4D). FARA serves as the technical arm of the Africa Union Commission on matters concerning agriculture science, technology and innovation. https://faraafrica.org/

Yemi Akinbamijo is the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). He has spent the past 28 years in Africa and Europe working in the international agriculture, food security, and rural development domains. He was head of division of the Agriculture and Food Security Division at the African Union (AU) Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; director of the AU Inter-African Phytosanitary Council based in Yaoundé, Cameroon; and served on the Africa-Arab Joint Action on Food Security and Agriculture. He has a Ph.D. in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University Research Centre, The Netherlands.

Represented by

Dr Abdou Tenkouano

Executive Director

CORAF

About CORAF : As Africa’s largest sub-regional research organization, the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) works with 23 national agricultural research systems in 23 West and Central Africa countries to enhance prosperity and ensure a food security. CORAF’s research changes lives through improvements in agricultural production and increased incomes of millions of entrepreneurs and farmers. www.coraf.org/en/

Dr. Abdou Tenkouano is Executive Director of CORAF, the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development, based in Dakar, Senegal. His academic background is in plant breeding and genetics and he has a PhD from the Texas A&M University. He has worked across sub-Saharan Africa with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, 1994–1996, Mali), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, 1996–2008, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana) and The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC, 2008–2016, Tanzania and Mali). Dr. Tenkouano also served as a member of the research for development council at IITA, and as deputy chair of the institutional research and development committee and a member of the institutional management committee at AVRDC.

Abdulai Jalloh, Director of Research and Innovation, representing CORAF

Represented by

Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila

Chief Executive Officer

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)

Dr. Tshilidzi holds a Higher Education Diploma and a Bachelor of Agricultural Management (both from the University of the Limpopo), an Advanced Program in Marketing Management (University of South Africa), Master degree in Development Studies (University of the Free State), and PhD Economics (University of New England).

About FANRPAN : The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network is a pan-African network that provides independent evidence to inform policy processes at national and regional levels. FANRPAN’s membership includes food, agriculture and natural resources (FANR) related government departments, parliamentarians, research and farmer organizations, private sector, civil society organizations and the media. www.fanrpan.org

Dr William Asiko, Managing Director of the Africa Region Office, The Rockefeller Foundation represents Grow Africa on the board of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN).

Represented by

Dr Ravi Khetarpal
Executive Secretary
Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI)

About APAARI: The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions was established in 1990 at the initiative of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and most of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of the Asia-Pacific region and a voluntary, membership-based, apolitical and multi-stakeholder regional organization. It is bridging national, regional and global stakeholders to bring about collective change in agri-food systems of Asia and the Pacific. hwww.apaari.org

He served CABI – South Asia (India) as Regional Director and also as its Regional Advisor on Strategic Science Partnerships over a span of seven years. Prior to this he worked for National Agricultural Research System in India for three decades. He holds PhD in Life Sciences (Virology) from University of Paris and was a Visiting Scientist in an EU Collaborative Project at INRA, Versailles, France for three years. His areas of interest includes research, development, policy issues and capacity building in areas of biosecurity, biosafety, seed certification and biodiversity. He has worked as consultant of twelve FAO/World Bank Projects notably in Indonesia (as Team Leader), India, Nepal, Mauritius and Cambodia. He represents Asia as Developing Country SPS Expert in STDF Working Group in WTO. He has published 110 research papers, 19 books, 56 book chapters, 12 review articles and 3 policy papers. APAARI welcomes him and looks forward to enhanced APAARI progress under his dynamic leadership.

Represented by

Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes
Director General
International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

About ICRISAT: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Ari-Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international nonprofit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics have over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, with two regional hubs and six country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. About ICRISAT: www.icrisat.org