Affiliations and Achievements:
Spearheaded development and commercialization of technologies to mitigate aflatoxin in East, West, and Southern Africa, with an annual budget of $20M, partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Proactively lifting 258,000 households out of poverty through the Feed the Future (FTF) Accelerated Value Chain Development program across Kenya and 9 other countries in East Africa; Implementing the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) portfolio of FTF and economically viable programs, with an annual budget of $6M; Representing USAID through exemplary leadership as a member of the Mission Leadership Council, a COVID/KEA Taskforce member, and the Regional Platform review; Demonstrated adeptness and strategic, political, and technical acumen in shaping the development of USAID wellness and development goals; Successfully transitioned from Regional Feed the Future (FTF) Team Lead to the Policy Team Lead within the new APPS Center at USAID; Leading as a Board Member of the Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization program and Activity Manager at USAID; Serving as the Agreement/Contracting Agreement Officer’s Representative (A/COR) for the East Africa Trade and Investment Hub (EATIH), with a budget of $65M for 5 years; Participated in developing Aflasafe, a biocontrol product, in liaison with USAID, IITA, and National Agricultural Research Institutions; Initiated strident efforts in buffering, delegating, and mentoring staff to take on both bilateral and regional roles at USAID; Accomplished cohesion of programming across the regional portfolio, with ongoing RECs, newer entities, and the Agency's Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) activity.
Key design member of the % year Kenya Country Development Cooperation strategy and the Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (2020-2025), Led the development of the East Africa GFSS Feed the Future Plan.
Key Design Member of the over USD 100 Million Trade Mark East Africa's Economic Reform and Recovery Activity recently awarded
Key Achievements
? Strategy/Activity Design and management: Under both the bilateral and regional FTF (Annual budget of $ 70 M) I led and co lead the design and implementation of over 10 activities in the last 5 years, I was the Regional agriculture trade and Policy technical Lead for the recently awarded USD 100 M TradeMark East Africa Activity. The activity will leverage over USD 500M from other donors to improve Food security in the region.
? Improved Policy and Regulatory Environment: Established a a multisectoral (Agriculture, Energy WASH, Trade, Investment and Resilience) Policy Champion group that aims to build problem solving organizations that are information rich with capacity to engage on complex interconnected challenges by focusing on learning and on building the capabilities necessary to identify and address the public good gaps that limit diversification to adopt new knowhow. Several regional and National policies developed and MOUs signed
? Scaling Agricultural Technologies: Provided technical lead to CGIARs, academia and research institutions to develop, disseminate, and scale scientifically proven technologies to address major agricultural threats such as aflatoxin, FAW, rinder pests, MLN. Spearheaded development and commercialization of aflasafe to mitigate against aflatoxin in the continent ($40M)
? Poverty Reduction: . Proactively lifting over 500,000 households out of poverty through, scaling technologies (quality Seed), strengthening market systems, increasing investments to the SMEs and driving inclusivity and diversity across the program cycle
? Deepened private sector engagement and partnerships: Steered considerable improvement in maternal, child health, and nutrition outcomes by liaising with USAID/Kenya Health, Population, and Nutrition to develop effective and adaptable strategies. Developed over 50 partnerships to improve food and nutrition security amongst the most vulnerable communities