Dr Elijah K. Biamah

Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Elijah K. Biamah, PhD is a Professor of Environmental and Water Systems Engineering with 35 years of academic and practical experience in technical aspects of environment and agriculture engineering. He currently chairs the Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Prof. Biamah has extensive professional expertise in environmental resource conservation, soil and water management, agricultural project planning and management, strategic planning, pastoral land tenure and resource management, integrated watershed resource management, solid and liquid waste management, smallholder irrigation system design, rural water supply systems, dams and dam design, and environmental impact assessment/environmental audit to various UN Agencies including: World Bank, FAO, WFP, IFAD, UNEP and UNDP; and local/regional non-governmental organizations like WOCA and SAACID in Somalia, NOVIB (OXFAM, The Netherlands), World Vision Kenya, and Jamii Bora Bank, Kenya.

Prof. Biamah has also been involved in donor, community and environment-oriented project planning and management in China, Kenya, Somalia and Southern Sudan. On corporate social responsibility, Prof. Biamah is a Board Director of Poverty Eradication Network, an NGO based in Kenya; Board Director, Coffee Research Foundation, Ruiru, Kenya; Chairman, Thematic Working Group on Environment, Sustainable Land and Natural Resources Management (ESLNRM) – a Vision 2030 Initiative to realize the Agricultural Development Strategy (ASDS) through the Agricultural Sector Coordination Unit (ASCU) based in the Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya. Prof. Biamah is a leading authority on environmental and water conservation and has 65 scientific research publications in Journals, International Conference Proceedings and unpublished study reports. Besides these publications, Prof. Biamah has also made a number of International, Regional (Africa), National (Kenya), and University (Kenya) contributions.

Professor J.N. Eloff

Department of Paraclinical Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Jacobus Nicolaas Eloff (born in Johannesburg, 1939) was professor at the Free State, Cape Town and Pretoria universities. He has also served as Executive Director of the National Botanic Gardens (Head Office, Kirstenbosch) and Research Director – National Botanical Institute. He is currently research professor and leader of the interdisciplinary Phytomedicine Programme, Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria.

He was the Scientific Editor of the South African Journal of Botany and its predecessor for 16 years. He has also worked as the Editor of six volumes of the Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens. At present, he is Editor of the South African Journal of Natural Science and Technology; member of the Editorial Panel of the South African Journal of Botany and Editor-in Chief of the International Journal for Phytomedicine. He has been invited to review manuscripts for 63 different scientific journals. Dr Eloff has had more than 150 papers presented at international scientific conferences and more than 160 peer-evaluated scientific publications. He has received a B-category (internationally recognised researcher) evaluation by the National Research Foundation.

The Centre for the Development of Enterprise, a European Union agent has appointed Dr Eloff to develop Pan-African quality control standards and monographs for African Medicinal plants, leading to the production of an African Herbal Pharmacopoeia.

Having played a leadership role in many national and international professional societies, Dr Eloff has received the Senior Medal for Botany and honorary life membership from the South African Association of Botanists. Volume 65 of the South African Journal of Botany was dedicated to him. Dr Eloff has been awarded the Havenga medal and the Gold medal of the South African Academy of Science and Art for discoveries with important practical applications in the medicinal plant field. Several patents and products have been licensed to industrial companies based on his group’s research.

Find more detailed information on the Phytomedicine Programme website at www.up.ac.za/phyto

Dr George de Gooijer Consultant
Dr George de Gooijer has more than 10 years experience as a trainer and advisor in developing countries focusing on governance of natural resources and climate change, and learning and change processes. Previously he was the Head of the Section on Airquality and External Safety at DCMR Milieudienst Rijnmond for 6 years and had been policy advisor at Nuffic and Researcher at Wageningen University and Gemeentelijk Waterbedrijf, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Michael Hailu

Director, CTA, The Netherlands

Prior to taking up his post at CTA, Mr. Hailu was Director of Communications and a member of the Senior Leadership Team of the World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. He has also served as Secretary of the Governing Board.

Between 1999 and 2007, Mr. Hailu was Director of Information at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia.

He played a key role in organizing the first Forest Day event during the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. Similarly, he led the organization of the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry in Nairobi in 2009.

Mr. Hailu holds degrees in Information Sciences and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh, USA and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, respectively. He has also received training in strategic leadership at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, USA.

Dr Bruce Lankford

School of International Development, East Anglia University, UK

Dr Bruce Lankford is Senior Lecturer in Natural Resources at the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia, UK.  He has worked for more than 25 years in the fields of irrigation and water resources management, starting in Swaziland in 1983.  His main research and advisory work covers water management in Sub-Saharan Africa on the following themes:

• polycentric river basin management
• irrigation policy
• the use of games in democratizing water allocation,
• farmer-centred infrastructure design
• trade-offs related to ecosystem services in the Phongola River Basin in South Africa.

Maimbo Mabanga Malesu

Vice President of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association

Maimbo Mabanga Malesu is an Agricultural Engineer with 22 years experience in facilitating sustainable smallholder agricultural research and development. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Agricultural Engineering – (Soil and Water Engineering Option). During his career, he has mainly contributed to bettering the livelihoods of small-scale farmers through increased land and water productivity.

He has managed several complex government and donor funded programmes and projects at district, provincial, and national, regional and cross regional levels. He is currently employed at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) as the Programme Coordinator for a cross regional programme on rainwater harvesting and management. He is also coordinating a team of 15 experts involved in developing and piloting an Irrigation Master Plan for the government of Rwanda.

He possesses long and solid experience in project planning, management, monitoring and evaluation. He has a strong track record of raising funds. He has international working experience on both short and long term assignments in Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.

At regional level, he coordinates the Southern and Eastern Africa Rainwater – SearNet whereas at global level, he is the current Vice President of the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association. These networks tap on the world’s top experts including engineers, technicians, academic, scientists and practitioners in water management.

Kenneth F. Masuki

World Agroforestry Centre, Kampala, Uganda

Kenneth F. Masuki is a Tanzanian-born scientist who started his career as an Agricultural Researcher in 1991 after he graduated from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) as a soil scientist. He obtained his Masters of Science (MSc) degree in Land and Water Engineering from the University of Nairobi in 2000. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Education and Extension, SUA in Morogoro, Tanzania. For about 19 years he has been conducting research in the field of agriculture, soil and water management, integrated natural resource management (INRM) and technology transfer and knowledge management research. Between 2007 and 2008 he coordinated an IDRC funded Acacia project titled “Improved Access to Information for Development” which dealt with information access to farmers using ICTs in SW Uganda district of Kabale. Mr Masuki is currently working with African Highlands Initiative programme under Eastern Africa Region of World Agroforestry Centre as a Knowledge Management Specialist. He is based at the World Agroforestry Centre) office, Kampala.

Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki

Head, NPCA, South Africa

Dr Mayaki, of the Republic of Niger is the head of new NPCA, headquartered in Midrand, South Africa.

He worked as a Professor of Public Administration in Niger and Venezuela from 1976 to 1987 before joining the Uranium industry in Niger as a Senior Executive. During 1996 and 1997 he was successively appointed Minister in charge of African Integration and Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In November 1997, he was appointed Prime Minister, a function he held until January 2000. In August 2000, he set up the Analysis Centre for Public Policy .From 2000 to 2004 he was a guest Professor at the University of Paris XI, where he lectured on International Relations and Organizations; he also led research at the Research Center on Europe and the Contemporary World within that University. In 2004 he was appointed as the Executive Director of the Rural Hub , a multilateral Think-tank based in Dakar, Senegal, from where he was recruited as Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD.

Dr Mayaki is the author of the book, entitled "La caravane passe..." relating his political career.

Dr David Molden

Deputy Director General – Research, IWMI, Sri Lanka

Dr David Molden has 25 years experience in water resources management, in particular with issues of water management for agriculture. He has a PhD from Colorado State University with an educational background in groundwater hydrology and irrigation with work experience extending to water management institutions, water resources, and global issues of water supply, demand and scarcity. He has had long-term assignments in Botswana, Egypt, Lesotho, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and short term assignments in China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, and Turkey. He has extensive experience in multi-disciplinary and cross cultural teams. His practical project and research experience includes development of water accounting and water productivity assessment methodologies, irrigation performance assessment; water saving practices, design and implementation of irrigation management transfer in Nepal; groundwater; water management institutions; and design of decision support systems for irrigation. He has managed several research and development programs, including a Strategic Research Program for Egypt’s Nile, the Irrigation Management Project in Nepal; and IWMIs programmes on Irrigation Performance Assessment, and Integrated Water Management in Agriculture, and now the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture.

For more on Dr Molden see http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/About_IWMI/People/DavidMolden.aspx

Dr Aditi Mukherji
Researcher-Social Scientist, IWMI, Sri Lanka

Dr Aditi Mukherji holds a PhD (2007) in Geography from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Prior to joining IWMI in 2006, Dr Mukherji had worked as a junior researcher at IWMI-Tata Policy Programme located at Anand, India. She has also worked as a scientific officer at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Since 2001, Dr Mukherji has researched extensively on natural resource management and livelihood issues with a special focus on groundwater irrigation and its role in agrarian economy of South Asia. At IWMI, she is involved with two groundwater projects: the Challenge Program funded Groundwater Governance in Asia Project and the European Union funded Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Hard Rock Aquifers Project. For more on Dr Mukherji, see www.iwmi.cgiar.org/About_IWMI/People/Aditi.aspx

Regassa Namara
Senior Economist, IWMI, Ghana

Regassa Namara is a Senior Economist of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), based in IWMI Accra, Ghana. Mr Namara has over 10 years of agricultural economics (socioeconomics) research experience in a developing country National Agricultural Research and Extension System. He is also skilled in the analyses of biophysical, socio-economic and policy variables that inhibit or enhance innovation uptake and dissemination among smallholders as well as having substantial experience in the evaluation of the impacts of research and development programmes.

For more on Mr Namara, see www.iwmi.cgiar.org/About_IWMI/Peopl

Mme Oumy Ndiaye

Head of the Communication Services Department, CTA, The Netherlands

Currently Head of the Communication Services Department, CTA, Oumy has a Master of Arts, Sociology, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; Journalism Degree at CESTI, Université de Dakar, Senegal. Specialising in the fields of agriculture and environment, Oumy’s career spans the fields of journalism, sociology, and the management of information and communication, particularly in using participatory methods. She has also worked extensively in the areas of gender and communications.

Dr Stephen Ngigi

Project Coordinator, GHARP/KRA, Kenya

Dr Stephen Ngigi is the Projects Coordinator for the Greater Horn of Africa Rainwater Partnership (GHARP)/Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA). He is also an Associate Research Scientist for The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York based at the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Centre for East and Southern Africa, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya in charge of coordinating the development & implementation of water sector interventions at the 14 Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Ngigi has a Ph.D in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) from the Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE) and Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), Delft, The Netherlands and an M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering (Soil and Water Engineering Option) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has taught and researched at the University of Nairobi for 10 years. He has also published widely in the water resources management-related field.

Clément Ouédraogo

Programme Coordinator, CILSS, Burkina Faso

Clement Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso was born in Mali. He is currently Coordinator of the Programme Régional d’Appui à la Maitrise de l’Eau at CILSS and Programme Coordinator of the West African Irrigation Project - 2009-2010. He represents his organization in the tripartite partnership formed by CILSS-ECOWAS (CCRE) - UEMOA in the development of the West African Water Policy. He is also responsible for the launching and implementation of the Global Coalition on water at the Sahel Special Initiative of the CILSS heads of state

A hydraulics engineer, he majored in Agricultural Water Management and specialised in the area of Globalization, decentralization and local development (CIEDEL LYON 2003).

Previously he worked as an independent consultant for installation, evaluation, monitoring and engineering programmes, rural and urban water and also for the synthesis of national policy documents on hydraulic s for several private Africa West organisations. President and founding member of CCEPA (cadre de concertation des structures œuvrant dans le domaine de l’eau au Burkina Faso de 2004 à 2006); he is still a member of the technical committee. He was also founding member and first coordinator of ROSSAD (Network of Organizations of Civil Society for Sustainable Food Security in Burkina Faso). He was a director of the NGO, Eau Vive France and Regional Coordinator of the Regional solar water supply programme at CILSS (PRS 2) from 2007 to 2010. He is a current member of the Gender and Water Alliance.

Dr Stefan Thiemann

Consultant

Dr Stefan Thiemann is a geographer and wrote his PhD thesis about modelling of erosion and soil erosion risk in Eastern Africa. He has vast experience in university and development co-operation projects in the region and in Central Asia. Since 2001 he is managing projects with regard to ‘Integrated Watershed Management’, ‘Integrated Sanitation Management’ and ‘Environmental Engineering, Management and Monitoring’ and coordinates manifold projects funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD: Curriculum development, exchange of partners, students and participants is on his agenda as well as organising and conducting workshops at different levels: regional (university), institutional and local. From 2001 to 2007 he coordinated the project ‘Assistance to Arba Minch Water Technology Institute, Ethiopia’ which was funded by the German Technical Cooperation GTZ. Strong emphasis on natural resource management and integrated watershed management in development cooperation projects is closing the loop to teaching and research concepts of universities and research institutions. At present, he works as a consultant for universities, institutions and NGO’s in the development sector.

Dr Gert Jan Veldwisch

Assistant Professor at Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Currently assistant Professor at Wageningen University, Dr Gert Jan Veldwisch is based at the Irrigation and Water Engineering Group. He is developing research on the theme "market-led smallholder irrigation development in Southern Africa". His teaching is mostly in the domain of irrigation design and intervention processes with special attention for socio-political aspects.

His PhD field research was on water allocation and distribution processes in the Khorezm irrigation and drainage system. It was part of the ZEF (Centre for Development Research, Bonn, Germany) /UNESCO project “Economic and Ecological restructuring of land and water use in Khorezm, Uzbekistan”.

As a post doctoral fellow at CIAT (International Centre for Tropical Agriculture), he works in Chimoio, Mozambique in setting-up a country office and managing the social science aspects of two projects. The first project runs in 15 communities of Central Mozambique and aims at improving farm productivity in vulnerable smallholder production systems. The second project was part of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program and operates in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The project aims at improving innovation capacities at district level, linking farmers to input and output markets and the participatory adaptation of soil fertility management technologies.

Previously, he also had some experience as an independent Researcher at IWMI-SA in collaboration with the University of Pretoria and the Water Research Commission.

For more information, see http://www.wewur.wur.nl/popups/vcard.aspx?id=VELDW002

André Vugayabagabo

Senior Programme Coordinator, CTA, The Netherlands

André graduated as an agronomics engineer from the Université nationale du Rwanda in 1980. He has over 27 years of experience in designing and managing information and communication programmes focused on agricultural and rural development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, (2 years at national level, 10 regional level, 15 international level). His career spans subjects from food and nutritional security to livestock production policies, micro-finance, micro-credit, rural radio broadcasting and agricultural extension services. At present he is a Senior Programme Coordinator in the Communication Services Department, CTA.