Agenda

Director of Policy,  The African Fertilizer Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)

Secretariat,  National Fertilizer Platform of Uganda

President,  Mozambican Association for Fertilizers (AMOFERT)

CEO,  Fertilizer Association of Southern Africa (FERTASA)

West Africa Program Implementation Lead and Ghana Country Manager,  African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)

Regional Director for East and Southern Africa,  African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)

Secretariat,  National Fertilizer Platform of Uganda

Managing Director,  Ensymm UG&Co.KG
Dr. Pedram Dehdari is founder and managing director of Ensymm company in Dusseldorf Germany since 2002. Ensymm is a German based premier project consulting company for Life Sciences, serving biotech/Biopharma/Biomarine/nutraceutical companies also investors and government bodies related to the named project fields. He has a BSc. In Chemistry and MSc. In Biotechnology from Heinrich Heine University of Dusseldorf and his PhD in Biotechnology from Research Center Juelich and association with University of Stockholm, Dr. Dehdari is principal knowledge/Strategical advisor for over 40 Pharmaceutical companies, food supplement companies, investment funds and governmental organization or ministries worldwide. He is also Strategical adviser and service provider for Business Plans to Qatar Development Bank/Qatar, SIDF/KSA, RDC/Canada, Government of Surinam, Qatar Royal family members, several associations from USA,EU and GCC. He already hold similar lectures and workshops in Universities and Business schools in Germany/Latvia/Italy/India/Canada and also seminars and lectures in many other universities, in the events organized by different ministries for agriculture, economy, industry, health and environment in Qatar, KSA, Oman, UAE, EU, Slovenia, Germany, Iran, India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Canada, Italy, UK, Argentina,S urinam, China, Brazil. Dr. Dehdari is also involved in some innovative investment in Bio aquaculture like organic caviar or biofertilizer for organic farming by its own. Also he is the key developer of the first 100% biodegradable toothbrush wet&clean as enviro protecting innovation.

Global Market Development Manager – Agriculture,  U.S. Borax / Rio Tinto
Dr. Cleiton de Sequeira joined U.S. Borax in December 2018 based in Chicago, USA. He is responsible for the global market development strategy in agriculture, and is involved with product development and marketing. Prior to joining U.S. Borax, he worked as a sales agronomist in Wichita, USA, and as manager for agronomy and sales in Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina, for Koch Agronomic Services. His experience includes agronomy, research, sales, market development, marketing, and strategic planning. He has a B.S. degree in agronomic engineering and an M.S. degree in soil science and plant nutrition from the Federal University of Viçosa in Brazil. Cleiton holds a Ph.D. in soil and soil environmental science from Virginia Tech. In addition, he has an Executive MBA from IAE Business School of Austral University in Argentina.

Regional business lead NW Europe + MEA,  ICL Specialty Fertilizers
Dr. Sander Selten joined ICL Specialty Fertilizers 12 years ago. He is currently sales & marketing responsible for the Specialty Agriculture segment of ICL in NW Europe and the MEA area. The portfolio of ICL Specialty fertilizers consists of controlled release, fertigation and foliar fertilizers plus specialties like water conservation agents, adjuvants and are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. Before this role he was working 6 years as global market manager Specialty Agriculture at ICL and responsible for global portfolio management, new product development and agronomic support. Selten is based in the Netherlands and studied Agricultural Economy at Wageningen University and International Agricultural Trade. His experience includes marketing, sales, business development, product development and strategic planning.

Director Marketing,  Global Conveyor Systems Pvt. Ltd
A Graduate in Science and Post Graduate in Marketing Management with an overall experience of 38 years in Industrial Products and Material Handling. Successfully launched and established Patented product “Anticorrosive light weight idlers for conveyor systems” being energy efficient and costs saver for bulk material handling/manufacturing companies across the globe.

Systems Engineer,  Festo / Bagtech
Brett Binnekade has been a Systems Engineer at Festo since the graduation of his Mechanical Engineering Diploma in 2011. With has experience in industrial automation and a passion for software development, he has worked in partnership with Bagtech International to bring the latest technology and innovations to the fertilizer industry. As an ambassador for Industry 4.0 at Festo Mr Binnekade is working closely with Bagtech to introduce Cyber-Physical systems to the fertilizer industry.

CEO,  Guangzhou EWA Technologies
Dr. Eytan Bar, CEO of Guangzhou EWA Technologies, graduated by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by Post-Doc at MPI, Koln, Germany. Dr. Bar established the Environmental Engineering studies at BGN University, Israel and serves as the Head of the Department until 2010. Dr. Bar invented 2 Cutting-edge technologies for extraction water from air in arid climate and medical waste treatment and recycling. Since 2016 Dr. Bar serves as Expert Talent for advanced Environmental technologies of Guangzhou City and Guangdong Province, China. Dr. Bar received 7 awards for his achievement in Cleantech and submitted more than 20 patent applications.

President and CEO,  The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)
Jason Scarpone is currently President and CEO of The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP). Mr Scarpone is a leading International Development Specialist with 22 years of experience in designing, implementing and managing economic recovery and development programs for Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the United States. Mr Scarpone has specialized in public-private partnerships that link production, policy and marketing, with special attention to post-conflict, post-crisis environments. He has successfully implemented large-scale agricultural and rural development programs with long-lasting positive effects. Mr Scarpone holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and urban studies from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in labor relations from New York University.

Former Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture,  African Union
H.E. Rhoda Tumusiime holds a Master’s Degree in Economics, Planning and Managing Rural Development. She worked with the African Union as a Commissioner for Rural Economy & Agriculture from 2008 to 2017. Her roles covered multiple ministerial sectors ranging from crop agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, land, water, environment, climate change, climate services, disaster risk reduction and rural development. Food and nutrition security are critical for the African population. Currently, she plays a key role in policy engagement and helping to craft strategies that will support increasing agricultural productivity through use of modern technologies that will pull the continent out of this conundrum. Her expertise and experience as well as commitment to African Agriculture have seen her serve in a number of key positions in various international organizations. She strongly advocates for inclusion of youth and women in the agribusiness value chains through establishment of incubation and innovation centers among others.

Minister,  Western Cape Department of Agriculture
Dr Ivan Meyer as a senior member of the Government will now take over an important economic driver, Agriculture in the Western Cape. Agriculture is of critical importance. Our exports contribute to 45% of SA exports and has a total value of R21bn. Dr Meyer is an expert in public governance, finance and development management. During his term he will continue to build the importance of agriculture in the Western Cape economy, agriculture training, agro-processing, climate change, farm worker support and coordinating the 14 different rural modes in the Province. He is passionate about rural economic development and will work closely with the rural stakeholders to grow the economy and create jobs. He will also liaise with global agricultural players to increase our exports. In addition, he will continue to liaise with the diplomatic and consular corps through international relations. He previously held the portfolios of Social Development, Culture and Sport, Finance and International Relations. He holds a MA and Ph.D. degree from the University of Stellenbosch.

Head of Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Systems,  Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Dr Rebbie Harawa joined AGRA from the UNDPMillennium Villages Project in Malawi where she was a Team Leader and Science Coordinator. This is a multisectoral 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.

Dr Harawa 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. Dr Harawa holds a PhD in Soil Science from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

co-CEO,  Meridian Group
Chris Giannakis began his career in the fertilizer industry more than 25 years ago with Interep, an agricultural trading company, after reading Economics at QMC University of London and attaining his M.Sc. in Tropical Agriculture Development from the University of Reading in the UK. Since then he has been involved in establishing Agora Limited, Malawi Fertilizer Company and Farmers World Holdings, all operating across Malawi. Today he is based in Malawi and acts as the joint CEO of the Meridian Group who operate across Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The group’s core focus is on the manufacture and distribution of fertilizer, as well as various other agricultural businesses in the South-East African region.

GM Marketing and Sales,  Dangote Fertilizer Ltd.

Chief Investment Officer,  International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)

Kalim M. Shah is a Chief Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment entity of the World Bank Group.  He is currently responsible for IFC’s investments in Manufacturing which includes Downstream Oil & Gas for Sub-Saharan Africa.  Kalim has thirty years of experience in Corporate and Commercial banking, Project Finance and financial analysis with emphasis in the downstream oil & gas, manufacturing and agribusiness sectors. Twenty of these have been with IFC.

Kalim has country experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Canada and the USA.  He holds a Masters degree of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) degree in Mechanical Engineering, both from Queen’s University, Canada.

Marketing Director,  United Fertilizers Company Limited
Maksim Poltoradnev gained his global experience in marketing first in the field of nitrogen fertilizers in Uralchem and later – with potash fertilizers in Uralkali. His responsibilities cover broad area from technical aspects, such as agronomy and soil science, to fertilizer market analytics and business development. In the past four years Mr Poltoradnev managed marketing activities for Uralkali in Africa. Recently, after defending his doctoral thesis in biogeophysics in Hohenheim University, Mr Poltoradnev has joined UFCL and now guides marketing efforts for Uralkali-Uralchem-UFCL group of companies in Africa.

Executive Director,  Agri SA

Omri van Zyl is a qualified attorney and holds a BA Law, LLB (Academic Honours), MBA and qualifications in project management, crime intelligence and business development.

He was appointed Executive Director of Agri SA in December 2015, representing 28 000 commercial farmers in 9 provinces, 25 commodity organisations in various fora and 7 corporate members.  Omri manages a team that has a strong strategic focus on policy and agricultural economic development and covers in amongst others, natural resources, rural safety, commercial and labour and socio-developmental initiatives. 

Omri featured in a group of 60 CEO’s that were formed to advise government on turn-around interventions to revive the South African economy.  In August 2016 he was appointed as trustee on the Sasol Agriculture Trust and in 2017 he served as chairperson on the World Farmers’ Organisation’s Audit Board as well as an alternate director on BUSA’s board of directors.  In 2018 he was elected as a member of  Danroc’s Board of Directors and in 2019 appointed as Chairman of the World Farmers’ Organisation’s Global Cooperatives Committee.

He is widely published and a known thought leader and strategist in the African agriculture sector.  In November 2016, he is named continental winner by CEO Global in their “Leading African Recognition Programme” in the category for agriculture.   

CEO,  Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz)
John Purchase has been the CEO of the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) of South Africa since 2007. Previously he was the CEO of Grain South Africa. Dr Purchase commenced his professional career as a scientist in South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC), serving in various research and senior managerial positions for 22 years. Dr Purchase has also served on the Boards of the Land & Agricultural Bank of South Africa and the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) with distinction. Dr Purchase currently serves as a trustee and Chairman of the Maize Trust, and in 2015 Dr Purchase was also appointed as Chairman of the Board of the South African Grain Information Services (SAGIS) for a 3-year term and currently serves as Deputy Chairman. He is the Business Convenor in the Trade and Industry Chamber of NEDLAC and is Deputy Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), as well as serves as an alternate Director of BUSA. Amongst other awards, he received the 2011 Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of the Free State, as well as the 2012 South African Agriculturalist of the Year Award. In June 2013 he was elected to the Board of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) and still serves in this capacity. In December 2018, Dr Purchase was honoured by the French Government and the title of Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit (Le Grade de Chevalier dans l’ordre du Mérite Agricole) was bestowed on him by the French Ambassador to South Africa, for his services to Agriculture and Agribusiness.

Managing Director,  GWK Agri
Frans Du Plessis has 7 years experience in Commercial Banking and 29 years experience in the Agricultural Industry from which he spent the last 20 years at Senior Executive level. He has a BCom. Financial Management Degree and was also exposed to several strategic and management courses at Harvard Business School in Boston, London Business School as well as Gibbs’ Business School. His expertise includes Executive and Strategic Management, Turnaround Strategies for businesses in trauma, Merges and Acquisitions, Strategic Negotiations and flourish on making a difference in the lives of people who in the end make or break a business.

Researcher: RTD - Plant Sciences,  Western Cape Department of Agriculture
Dr Johan Labuschagne is a senior scientist at the Directorate Plant Sciences of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and responsible for research projects related to plant-soil-water management. Projects in progress relates to the development of management strategies for N fertilisation of wheat and canola grown under CA, liming management in CA systems as well as identification of soil quality parameters in systems research. He is currently study and co-study leader of 3 PhD and 3 MSc students at the North-West and Stellenbosch Universities.

Head of Business and Technical,  African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)
Joseph Mwangangi passionately believes that appropriate agribusiness interventions have potential to effectively counter Africa’s perennial poverty and food insecurity trap. He is an Agribusiness Advisor, Board Secretary to AFAP and a founder member/trustee of the Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AGMARK). He has been a key architect and promoter of the Hub-Agrodealer model for distribution of yield enhancing agricultural inputs and technologies in eastern and southern Africa for the last ten years. Joe has over thirty years’ involvement in implementing agribusiness development programs for leading international development agencies including TechnoServe, CRS, CNFA and now AFAP as Head of the Business and Technical Services Unit. He owns and runs a private company engaged in poultry production and processing for the Nairobi market in Kenya. He has a Masters in Agricultural Development from the University of London.

Co-ordinator: Comprehensive Producer Support Policy,  Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Government of the Republic of South Africa

Mr Makala Jeffrey Ngaka is currently employed by the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) as a Deputy Director within the Food Security and Agrarian Reform branch. He holds an MSc International Rural Development degree obtained from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in the United Kingdom (UK). His fields of interest include rural development, disaster risk reduction, agricultural extension and agricultural economics. He also serves as a Deputy Secretary of the newly formed Southern African Regional Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (SARFAAS).

Chief Director: Strategic Partnerships and Customer Care, Industrial Financing Division,  Department of Trade and Industry, Republic of South Africa
Tsépiso Makgothi joined the dti as Chief Director: Product Development in April 2003, where she was part of a team that developed the Large Budget Film and TV Production Rebate and the Business Process Outsourcing and off-shoring as well as the review of the Small Medium Enterprise Development Programme (SMEDP). Previously she spent 15 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry where she gained experience in Product Development at Hoechst (Germany), Quality Assurance at Lesotho Pharmaceutical Corporation and Alliance Pharmaceuticals. She was one of the Pharmaceutical inspectors in the PTA region; where she assisted the WHO and Commonwealth Secretariat with Pharmaceutical Audits in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia. In 2006 she was appointed COO, the Enterprise Organisation (TEO) now called Industrial Development and Administration Division (IDAD). In 2012 she headed the newly established Competitiveness Incentives cluster, managing 4 funds, before moving to the Strategic Partnerships and Customer Care unit in 2015. Tsépiso has an MBA (Microfinance) from the Graduate School of Management, University of Pretoria.

Chairperson,  Agro Dealers Association of South Africa (ADASA)
Luambo Munzhedzi is a trained Trainer Agro dealer who holds large experience in agribusiness, fertilizer value
chain, ammonium nitrate security (Fertilizer Canada), crop protection safety (Crop Life South Africa). Other
roles with the government also include attendance to policies, regulations in line with fertilizer, stock remedies
and agro chemicals. He is also CEO of Lahcos Agro Dealers (Pty) Ltd, established in 2012, an influential agro
dealer company that also collects data on consumption, demand, markets and trends within the fertilizer /
animal feed industry in South Africa. He is also part of a proposed N.P.K blending plant project in Limpopo-South
Africa, working with AFAP and Limpopo Department of Agriculture Agro dealers support.

Senior Project Development Manager, Basic & Specialty Chemicals,  Industrial Development Corporation of SA Limited (IDC)

Head of the Agribusiness Investment Unit,  Wesgro
Amanda Tshaya is the Head of the Agribusiness Investment Unit at Wesgro. She has over 6 years’ experience in Foreign and Local Investment facilitation across multiple sectors including Manufacturing, Medical Devices, Agribusiness and Agro-processing. With over 16 years’ experience in Client Relationship Management, Portfolio Management and Business Development Strategies. In her years at Wesgro, she has facilitated over R2.6 billion in investments into the Western Cape economy, supporting the creation of more than 1100 new direct jobs. Amanda is a highly dynamic achiever and creative executive who is passionate about premium service delivery and new business development. She has consistently demonstrated her ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in a variety of highly competitive industries, cutting edge markets and fast-paced environments. She has built her career weaving the fields of business development both local and international markets including the Pan-Africa. In her personal capacity, Amanda is also involved in SMME,’s development in and around her own community in order to educate entrepreneurs on good governance and guide them on how to access early-stage funding. Based on her experience and large International and local network, Amanda also plays a role in facilitating and connecting SMME’s to industry chain and government departments.

Demand Analyst,  CRU
Rajiv Ram joined CRU Group in 2017. Mr Ram contributes 'across the nutrients' for the fertilizers team, including Fertilizer Week, as a specialist in agricultural economics. He closely monitors agricultural markets, including prices, policy and weather, to improve CRUs forecasting of short, medium and long-term fertilizer demand. Mr Ram holds a BSc in Geography with Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a MSc in Development Studies from the School of African and Oriental Arts (SOAS). Since graduating he has spent his career analysing agricultural markets. Mr Ram joined CRU from LMC International, where he worked as an economist in the oilseeds team for three and half years.

Fertilizer Market Specialist and AfricaFertilizer.Org Coordinator,  IFDC
Grace Chilande is a Fertilizer Market Specialist with the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC). She has 5 years’ experience working on SSA fertilizer markets, and is currently the Lead Project Coordinator of the AfricaFertilizer.org Initiative, an initiative that aims to contribute to the development of a sustainable and profitable agriculture sector in Africa through the provision of a clear and opportune information on fertilizers to fertilizer stakeholders globally. Grace has specialized on fertilizer market data analysis and market intelligence along the entire value chain-from production, trade, pricing and consumption in key markets within the SSA region.

Project Development Manager,  Met Development (Maire Tecnimont)
Ralph Koekkoek is Project development manager at MET Development S.p.A., the project development company of the Maire Tecnimont Group. Ralph has a degree in chemistry and business administration and has been active in the fertilizer industry for several years for both Stamicarbon and MET development. As development manager he brings together different partners in the value chain to jointly develop a project from idea phase up to realization. He combines technical, financial and commercial expertise with an entrepreneurial can-do mentality. He is passionate about the development of green chemistry and in particular the sustainable development of the fertilizer industry using renewable resources for the production of fertilizer.

Director - International Sales,  AGI Fertilizer Systems

Jeff Ivan is the Director - International Sales with AGI Fertilizer Systems.  Mr Ivan has spent 30 years in the Agricultural field, working on International Fertilizer projects in developing agricultural regions. Prior to AGI Fertilizer Systems he worked with Tiger-Sul Products on the development of International Sulphur and micronutrients business development and marketing establishing new Sulphur fertilizer manufacturing facilities. Jeff started his career in the retail fertilizer sector in Canada. Mr Ivan originates from a family farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has been involved in several committees such as the Canadian Fertilizer Institute's Agronomy and Environment Committee, The Sulphur Institute's Sulphur Advocacy Group, acting as lead for the development of sulphur fertilizers in India and is active with the IFA African Forum for the development of fertilizer in Africa.

Chief Business Development Officer,  DSM Corridor Group
Receiving the best port operator or terminal in Africa in Women in Transport awards 2016, made Mari grateful as one of the founding members of DSM Corridor Group. Challenges in port and hinterland logistics offer an ever-changing opportunities for improvement. 
Mari tends to be practise business development in a rather unconventional way. She enjoys bringing wider, sometimes seemingly not-at-all connected, concepts together, combine them with requirements of different interested parties and create innovative solutions as a response to constantly changing business environment. 
Integrating quality management systems  approach, IFC performance standards and United Nations Global Compact Initiative (UNGC) values and innovative inclusive business models to maritime  and intermodal environment is her new passion. Mari has experience of more than 20 years in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mari is also a director in DSM Corridor Ships Chandelling. She has Msc from University of  Helsinki, Finland and several post-graduate studies in different European universities. At the moment she studies Leadership with Aalto University at the Uongozi Institute.

Project Manager: Spatial Development Initiatives,  Walvis Bay Corridor Group

Gilbert Boois, is a Certified and Master International Project Manager, and a member of the International Academy of Project Management (IAPM) in Australia. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Workplace Transformation with the University of Manchester, UK. He also recently completed the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) with the Public School of Leadership of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He has over 19 years of hands on experience in planning infrastructure and industrial value chain projects, 10 years on planning and designing infrastructure master plans, and providing turnkey logistics solutions. Gilbert worked in public and private sector as Project Manager, chiefly responsible for infrastructure master planning, i.e. Logistics Master Plan for Namibia, Integrated Transport Master Plan of Namibia, Namibia Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI) Corridor Master Plan, Regional Industrial Value Chains, among others. He also serves on the Technical Working Committee for the Integrated Transport Master Plan of Namibia, Steering Committee for the Logistics Master Plan of Namibia, Advisory Board of UNIDO Bush-processing Value Chains in Namibia, Steering Committee of GIZ Bush Control and Biomass Utilization Project in Namibia, NGCL Curriculum Advisory Board, and National Trade Facilitation Committee.

 

While working for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), he gained extensive experience on project planning and development, project design and project finance, feasibility and other techno - economic studies, facilitate turnkey logistics solutions for project cargo owners, value chain analysis, industrial clustering, special economic zones, supervising consultants, advising government on infrastructure and industrial development.

Chair, Agricultural Water Chain,  SWPN and Manager, ARC-Agricultural Engineering
Felix Reinders is the Chairperson of the Agricultural Supply Chain Water Group of the Strategic Water Partners Network South Africa. Mr Reinders completed his Engineering studies in 1979 at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and is a Professional Engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He specialises in Water resources management and Irrigation engineering in the Agricultural and Civil Engineering field, including research, design, training and mentoring. As Manager of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at the Agricultural Research Council’s Agricultural Engineering group, Mr Reinders plays a pivotal role in the co-ordination of especially irrigation research, development, testing and design.