As part of the 2022 Biennial Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Stakeholder Conference, DeSIRA-LIFT co-organised with FARA a side event entitled “The contribution of agroecology to climate change adaptation and mitigation.” The event took place in a hybrid mode in Accra, Ghana, and online, on 15 September 2022.
Moderator | DeSIRA-LIFT
Isolina Boto is the Lead Support to CAADP-XP4 in the EU-funded DeSIRA LIFT programme, and Head of Networks and Alliances at COLEACP, a non-profit association of private sector operators in the agrifood sector active in the European Union (EU), Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) regions. Isolina has more than 25 years of experience in agricultural development. She started her career with the European Commission and has also worked with various ACP embassies and NGOs in areas related to food security, rural development and trade. Before joining COLEACP, she was the Manager of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) Brussels Office (2004-2020) implementing policy initiatives related to the ACP-EU cooperation in the field of the agrifood sector. She has led agribusiness projects in support of capacity development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and farmers organisations across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific and developed agrotourism aimed at linking agriculture and tourism sectors.
Coordinator, West Africa Alliance for Agroecology
Karim Sawadogo is an agricultural consultant specialised in the development of agroecological production systems. Since 1st November 2021, he has been coordinating the Alliance for Agroecology in West Africa (3AO). Previously, he coordinated the Contractual Agriculture and Agroecological Transition Programme of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) in Burkina Faso where he contributed to the establishment of an inclusive agribusiness partnership between the private sector and farmers’ organisations in the groundnut and maize value chains through contractualisation and ecological production principles. Karim has also worked for the NGO MANI TESE as a project agronomist, project coordinator, programme officer and Deputy Country Representative. He participated in the elaboration of the agro-ecology development strategy, as well as in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of several projects: (i) partnership for sustainable development in vegetable production, (ii) food security development project, (iii) agroecology for all, (iv) strengthening the competitiveness of the agroecological sector in the peri-urban area of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
In parallel, Karim has carried out consultations with several structures and development agencies on the promotion of agricultural innovations; contributed to socio-economic studies, development plans for agricultural value chains, inclusive financial tools, and to training of producers.
Project GCCA+AO, ARAA, Togo
Yohann T.R. Zaba is Regional Climate Smart Agriculture Pilot Project Officer at the ECOWAS/EU Global Climate Change Alliance plus West Africa (GCCA+AO) implemented by Expertise France. Microbiologist specialized in food quality and safety, he focused his career on innovative, sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change and results oriented project management. He is currently in charge of 15 climate-smart agriculture pilot projects in 11 West African countries. He got involved in the promotion of smart agriculture for food security with FAO and WFP in Guinea until 2011 before completing a specialization in Business Engineering and Project Management at INSEEC Bordeaux, France, in 2013. With this dual technical and managerial skill, he contributed to the development of the 1st Agricultural Growth Pole of Burkina Faso BAGREPOLE funded by the World Bank. He took leadership on several natural resources management policies in Burkina on behalf of the GIZ: he piloted the study on the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD), as well as the national baseline of degraded lands leading to the adoption of the National Strategy for Soil Conservation and Restoration (SNRCRS). He has now 12 years’ experience in developing and piloting commercial and non-commercial climate smart agriculture approaches and is keen to share the lessons learned from the successful projects he piloted.
Country Coordinator, PELUM, Kenya
PELUM Kenya is a network of CSOs promoting agroecological principles and practices among small holder farmers and pastoralists in Kenya. PELUM Kenya is part of the larger PELUM Association which operates in 12 African Countries.
Rosinah Mbenya has over ten years’ experience in the fields of agroecology, environment, climate change, market development and natural resources management. She holds good knowledge and practical experience in issues that affect small scale farmers and communities. She is also passionate about the role of youth and women in agriculture and natural resources management.
Co-founder and CTO, LONO, Côte d’Ivoire
Kombo Ekra Noël N’Guessan is a chemical engineer trained in Canada, South Africa and Belgium in the design and optimization of industrial and biorefining processes. In 2016, Noël cofounded LONO, an engineering company specializing in the local manufacturing of technology and providing services for the agricultural and livestock value chains to produce organic fertilizer and methane. Over the past 5 years, LONO has patented a local technology for the production of organic fertilizer and introduced a model of modular and mobile biodigesters for the agri-food sector. For these innovations, Noël and LONO have received awards from local and international organizations including EDF, Total Energies and the Royal Academy of Engineering. In addition to this technology design and manufacturing activity, LONO designs, builds and operates industrial biorefining projects that use organic waste streams to create value for the local value chains. Noël also provides expertise to LONO’s partners in the form of consulting services, project management assistance and / or trainings to cooperatives, companies and agencies implementing a strategy to mitigate climate change or introduce agroecology practices. The activities include the decarbonization of the agro- industrial sectors and the restoration of carbon in the soil.
CEO, Hendy Farms Ltd, Ghana
Sandra Snowden is CEO and Co-founder of Hendy Farms. She has a Bsc. degree in Information technology from Brunel University, UK. She serves on the executive board of DAMFA Dangme Mango Farmers Association and is a member of the Ghana Mango Week Planning Committee.
Hendy Farms is a successful Ghanaian company producing mangoes, mango preserves and condiments. The company produces dried mango, jams, hot sauces, and various frozen products from fresh mango as well as honey from it’s apiary. Hendy Farms value added products are Global GAP and FDA certified and sold in premium recyclable packaging. Hendy Farms delicious award winning mango products were adjudged best packaged product by the Netherlands support agency Hortifresh in 2019, and their mango moringa sauce won a great taste star with the Guild of Fine Food in the UK 2021. Hendy Farms is continually working towards being climate smart through sustainable and regenerative methods while empowering women and youth and creating jobs and achieving more profitability.
Moderator | FARA
Karen Munoko Musikoyo-Nguru is the agribusiness and gender expert at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). A development expert by training, she is a member of the African Union Technical Committee implementing the Common Africa Agro Parks Initiative. Previously, she worked at the United States International University-Africa, where she successfully established the institution’s agribusiness center while managing capacity-building processes, and agribusiness research grants from multiple funders. She also worked at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Regional Programme of Education for Emergency (UNESCO PEER), where she successfully supported the implementation of the program’s monitoring and evaluation framework as well as documentation of best practices. Her current focus is on supporting the establishment of Agribusiness Learning Alliances that will contribute to increased capacities for strengthening the linkages between agricultural research and businesses in Africa.
Head, Climate Finance Division, West Africa Development Bank (BOAD)
Born on 8 September 1980 in Namur, Belgium, Ibrahim Traoré holds a Master’s degree in Economics of Sustainable Development and Transition from the University of Paris Dauphine, France, and a Master’s degree in International Economics, option Governance of Organisations for International Development, from the University of Pierre Mendes France in Grenoble II, France. He is an expert in development cooperation of the Belgian Agency for Development (ENABEL).
Ibrahim Traoré started his career in 2006 with the Auchan France Group, as Sustainable Development Programme Officer, after a short stay with the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission as Sustainable Development Economist. In 2014, he joined the West African Development Bank (WADB) in Lomé where he held the positions of Senior Environmental Economist, Senior Specialist in charge of Climate Finance and Head of the Climate Finance Division.
An expert in climate project formulation and resource mobilization with the financial mechanisms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Ibrahim Traoré was WADB’s deputy focal point for the Adaptation Fund (AF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
He is currently the coordinator of the Climate Integration Programme in WADB operations and a member of the Technical Committee on Sustainable Finance in Senegal.
Regional Coordinator, AIC- BOAD, ARAA/ECOWAS
Jacques Andre Ndione is the regional coordinator of the project regarding the Promotion of Climate Smart Agriculture in West Africa (Promotion de l’Agriculture Intelligente face au Climat en Afrique de l’Ouest, AIC) in Africa (NOARA). The AIC project has been initiated by ECOWAS in collaboration with the West African Development Bank (WADB) to support the implementation of ECOWAS’ regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP), the single framework for the implementation in West Africa of the agriculture component of NEPAD / the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The AIC project provides a mechanism for consultation, coordination, convergence, capitalisation and monitoring of the various initiative. Its overall objective is to reduce the vulnerability of farmers and livestock keepers to increased climate risks.
President, ROPPA
Ibrahima Coulibaly is the President of the Network of Farmers’and Producers’ Organizations in West Africa (Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et des Producteurs Agricoles de l’Afrique de l’Ouest ROPPA). He is a farmer active in market gardening, arboriculture and cereal production (millet, maize, sorghum, etc.), raises livestock and produces honey in the Koulikoro region. He supports farmers’ movements since the advent of democracy in Mali in 1991. A tireless promoter of family farming, he is one of the founders of the National Coordination of Producers of Mali (Coordination nationale des producteurs du Mali, CNOP) which he has chaired since 2005. He was one of the instigators, in 2006, of the promulgation of the Agricultural Orientation Law, which included the concept of food sovereignty in its objectives and recognised the central place of family farming in any agricultural policy. In 2007, he led the organisation of the first World Forum on Food Sovereignty in Nyéléni, Mali.
Ibrahima Coulibaly has been involved in the development of an agro- ecological approach to food systems, from production, including land issues, to final consumption in the cities. He has been a member of ROPPA’s Board of Directors since 2000 and has been its vice-president since 2014. He has contributed to the development of farmers’ rights that have been voted by the UN. Ibrahima Coulibaly was appointed UN Ambassador for the International Year of the Family Farming in 2014.
Head of sector, Climate change, European Commission/INTPA
Etienne Coyette is an agricultural engineer in landscape management. After 11 years of experience in Central Africa and Central America, he worked on rural development and natural resources management for a Brussels based organisation, undertaking numerous field missions in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He joined the European Commission in 2004 in its environment service before moving to the external cooperation service in 2011 to work on climate change. He is now working on sustainable agriculture and land governance.
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