Board of Directors
Dr Moctar Toure; Africa Harvest recently appointed Dr Moctar Toure as the new Board Chairman. Dr Toure, a Senegalese citizen, has both a Masters and Doctorate degree in agronomy and soil science from the University of Rennes, France and a Bachelors Degree in biology and natural science from University of Orleans, France.
Dr Toure has extensive experience in agricultural research and policy. In 2006, he retired as the Team Leader the Land and Water Resources unit of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) while from 2001 to 2004, he was the Agricultural Services Specialist, Africa region, for the World Bank. He has previously worked in various other capacities at the World Bank, Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA), Ministry of Science and Technology, Senegal and Ministry of Agriculture, Morocco.
He has served on the boards and committees of institutions such as the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), European Economic Commission, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Africa Rice Center, International Center for Research on Agro-forestry (ICRAF), International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM).
He currently consults for institutions like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Government of Burkina Faso.
Joseph Kibe is the Africa Harvest Board Vice-Chair. He provides Africa Harvest with strategic financial and governance oversight. Kibe is self employed mainly dealing in Agricultural production both for export and for domestic use. Currently, he is a Director and Chairman of different organizations including Kenya Gatsby Charitable Foundation; Trustee of Gatanga Community Water Trust, BOC Kenya Limited, African Agricultural Capital, Tree Biotechnology Program Trust and Horticultural Crops Development Authority. Mr. Kibe has held different positions both in the Government of Kenya and in private sectors including; Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer in six Ministries (Commerce and Industry; Economic Planning; Agriculture and Animal Husbandry; Water Development; Lands and Settlement and Tourism and Wildlife.
Prudence Ndlovu, Board Member, who is an Entrepreneur and the Managing Director of EPOD Global (Pty) Ltd; an organization that offers solutions in Human Resource and Organization Design & Development, Training and Recruitment. She has over 15 years experience in the HR field and has facilitated training for over 10 years in different institutions and organizations including Pricewater House Coopers, Gordon Institute of Business Science, Standard Bank, IBM, Investec, University of Limpopo, Health Professionals Council of South Africa and others. She is an active member of the Business Woman’s Association, Institute of Directors and Business Unity South Africa.
Professor Matin Qaim He is a member of the Program and Nominations committee. He is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research in Bonn, Germany. He is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Goettingen in Germany and has extensive research experience related to the economics of agricultural technologies in developing countries.
Professor Shabd S. Acharya, Board Member & Chair of Program Committee, is Honorary Professor at Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur (India) having worked with different institutions and organizations as a professor and Director. Currently he heads different committees including being the Vice President of Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS). Prof. Acharya has written extensively in the areas of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Marketing and Prices, Agricultural Development and Policy Analysis. He is currently Vice President of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (India). His field of research has been agricultural marketing, development and policy analysis.
Dr
Arthur Carty Dr Arthur Carty was appointed to the Africa
Harvest Board of Directors in May 2011. He is a Canadian
citizen and is the Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute of
Nanotechnology. Previously, he was the National Science Advisor to the Prime
Minister and Government of Canada. He has a doctorate degree in Inorganic
Chemistry from the University of Nottingham. Dr Carty has 42 years of
experience of academic research in chemistry having published 310 articles
in peer reviewed journals and appointed many times as an external reviewer
or specialist. Two of his papers are amongst the 100 most cited papers
published in synthetic and pure chemistry.
He has been the recipient of several scholarships and awards and has been
appointed to several company boards and councils including the Science and
Technology in Society Forum, Carleton University, Canadian Institutes of
Health Research, Canadian Society of Chemistry, Innovative Materials
Technologies Ltd amongst others. He is well connected to numerous academia
and corporate research networks in North America, Europe, South East and
Central Asia.
Dr
Blessed Okole Dr. Blessed Okole is the General Manager for
the Infrastructure and Planning in the Technology
Innovation Agency. He was the chief executive officer of LIFElab, the East
Coast Biotechnology Innovation Centre in Durban. He holds a PhD from the
Technical University of Berlin, Germany and he is a graduate of the
International Executive Development Programme from the London Business
School and Witwatersrand University. He has 11 years international
experience in the research and development environment and 8 years’
experience in the South African biotechnology industry. During his career in
both the private and public sector, Dr. Okole developed strategic
partnerships with numerous key stakeholders in the biotechnology sector.
Prior to joining LIFElab, He held the position of
Business Development Manager and Strategic Partnership Manager for CSIR
Biosciences unit. He was also the interim Director for the NEPAD Southern
African Network for Biosciences (SANBio) and he initially began his research
career as the Technology Manager at AECI. At the CSIR, Dr. Okole together
with colleagues obtained major grants like the US$18M grant from the Gates
Foundation on nutritional enhanced sorghum, Several European Union and
Innovation fund grants in the Plant Biotechnology group of the CSIR.
Dr. Okole has vast experience in starting up biotechnology businesses; and
is conversant with national systems of innovation in Africa; has extensive
knowledge of the small and medium Industries in the continent. He is the
south African Principal Investigator of three bilateral development projects
with Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique. Eight years ago, he started a small
biotechnology tissue culture
company in Tzaneen, Limpopo which was sold to the Dutch. He is a registered
member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific professions. He
has several peer reviewed publications and holds three patents.
Dr
Grace Malindi Dr Grace Malindi was appointed to the Africa
Harvest Board of Directors in May 2011. She is a Malawian citizen and the
Director of Agricultural Extension Services at the Malawi Ministry of
Agriculture and Food
Security. Previously, she was the Deputy Director for Agriculture Gender
Roles Extension Support Services (AGRESS) within the same ministry. She has
a doctorate degree in Human Resources and Community Development from the
University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. Dr Malindi has served within
various positions in the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture for 34 years and has
27 years of experience in rural, community and human resources development.
She has been involved in the development, implementation and policy
formation of extension staff and farmer training models integrated with
gender, HIV and AIDS based issues. She has held consultancy, collaborative
and advisory positions in several programs involving rural development
management, agriculture and natural resources management within Malawi and
the South Africa Development Community. She is also a board member of Women
and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Natural Resources College (NRC), Women
Science and Technology Network (WISTNET), African Fertility Soils
Information Services (AFSIS) and several other bodies. She has been the
recipient of several grants and award fellowships and is a member of a
number of professional associations including the Association of Women in
International Development, Association of International Agricultural
Extension Education and the Home Economics Association of Africa.
