Dr Rachel Chikwamba is currently the director of the Vice President/Group Executive at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, where she is responsible for Chemicals, Agriculture, Food and Health.  In this role, she champions organisational alliances with local and global partners in order to advance knowledge and to address challenges of socio-economic and industrial development through science, technology and innovation. 

Prior to her current appointment, Rachel was a previously a chief scientist in biosciences with a particular interest in improving access to effective treatments, using metabolic engineering of plants to develop a readily scalable platform for the production affordable therapeutics.    She has led and participated in several global research consortia supported by the European Union Framework Programme and the Rockefeller Foundation among others.  Rachel holds a PhD in Genetics from Iowa State University in the USA and a Master of Business Administration at the Gordon Institute of Business Science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  She is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF) and has held an Honorary Research Fellowship at St Georges Hospital Medical School, University of London.   She sits on various boards focusing on agriculture, conservation and health, notably the Global Governing Board of ICRISAT, the Board of Directors of the Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd, the South African Medical Research Council and is the chair of the Advisory Board of the Applied Center for Climate and Earth System Sciences (ACCESS), among others.  She has served as an editorial board member for several international journals and a reviewer for local and international funding organisations.  She has published book chapters and peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Denis Kyetere is a geneticist and a plant breeder with a PhD from Ohio State University (OSU), Ohio, USA, and an MSc from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth College, United Kingdom – all in Genetics and Plant Breeding – and a BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology from Makerere University, Uganda. Denis previously served as the Director General of Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) for five years from 2006–2011. 

During his successful scientific career, he, with the team he was working with, identified and mapped the maize streak virus gene 1 (MSV1), that confers tolerance in maize to maize streak virus disease, and also developed several maize varieties that are grown in Uganda and surrounding countries. His leadership and management experience spans across various sub-regional and regional organisations, networks, projects and committees including the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), where he served as chairperson of the two Boards. He was also the first chairperson of the Executive Advisory Board of AATF’s Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) Project. He has published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals, mainly in the area of genetics and plant breeding.

Professor Leonard A. Kamwanja earned a PhD in Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He is a former Chairman of the University of Malawi Council; Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malawi; Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor at the Dairy and Poultry Science Department, University of Florida-Gainesville; Visiting Scientist in the Department of Biotechnology of the Institut fur Tierzucht Und Tierverhalten (FAL) Mariensee, Germany.

Currently, he is Vice-Chancellor of the Lake Malawi Anglican University.

Professor (Dr.) Sunita Facknath is a Professor in Sustainable Agriculture in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, and a twice-over doctorate (she holds two PhDs, one from UK and another from Mauritius). She was the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018. 

In addition to her teaching, she is very active as a researcher and consultant. Her research interests are mainly in the field of Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Farming, Climate Change, Integrated Pest and Vector Management, Sustainable Aquaculture, Sustainable Forestry, Soil Biology, Agrochemicals, and AgroBiodiversity. She has researched and developed a large number of environmentally-friendly, and sustainable technologies for crop health, using natural and/or non-chemical approaches that can be used in biofarming and organic production. 

Marinkie Madiope is the Campus Principal of the Distance and ELearning Campus at the University of Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She has formerly been the Director of the University Teaching and Learning; Head Curriculum transformation at the University of South Africa, Instructional designer at Absa and Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa. She graduated from the University of the North with a BA;  BED; University of Johannesburg Masters in Computer-Based Instruction; PHD at the University of South Africa Her studies focussed on using Mobile technology for research proposal writing.

As part of community engagement, she is visible among the little-humans in the Africa Crèche Project to empowering women through the role she plays serving as the Chairperson of the Unisa Women’s forum, where she has grown the membership of UNISA women from 300 to 550. Marinkie is always there to care for women big and small. Dr Madiope is the winner of the Gender Activism: Advocacy and Promotion of Women's Rights and 2013, University of South Africa Woman of the Year awards 2013. She is also the recipient UNISA 2013 Best performer.

B.M. Prasanna leads CIMMYT’s global maize program, which focuses primarily on maize improvement in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. He provides technical oversight for an array of multi-institutional projects on the development and deployment of improved stress resilient maize germplasm in the tropics, as well as novel tools and technologies for enhancing genetic gains and breeding efficiency.

Prasanna also leads MAIZE, a CGIAR alliance of more than 300 research and development institutions worldwide that seeks to mobilize global resources in maize research and development to achieve a greater strategic impact on maize-based farming systems in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Under Prasanna’s leadership, CIMMYT established a state-of-the-art maize doubled haploid facility in Kiboko, Kenya. Prasanna and his team have been at the forefront in tackling the maize lethal necrosis epidemic in eastern Africa, as well as the Fall Armyworm challenge across Africa.

Emma Naluyima is a Ugandan veterinarian, urban farmer, businesswoman, elementary school educator and animal & crop farming instructor. Dr Emma previously worked for the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank and as an officer in Entebbe in charge of a Livestock Environmental Station. She has also worked for the President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, on his personal dairy farm to improve the genetics of his herd through artificial insemination.

Her current portfolio includes (a) a plantation of matooke and vegetables, including tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, potatoes and greens. (b) A piggery of approximately 30 Camborough pigs. (c) Entebbe Animal Care Centre, a veterinary clinic. (d) An elementary school with approximately 300 students and 20 teachers. A snail farm where snail glue is sold to cosmetic manufacturers. (f) She also keeps about one dozen dairy cows, a flock of chicken and four above-ground plastic fish-ponds stocked with tilapia and catfish. In September 2019, Emma Naluyima was a joint winner of the 2019 Africa Food Prize (formerly the Yara Prize).

Moses H. Lubinga (PhD) is a Senior Agricultural Economist under the Markets and Economic Research Centre (MERC) Division at the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) of South Africa. The NAMC is a state-owned entity with the mandate of advising the Minister for the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and directly affected groups on matters relating to the marketing of agricultural products, both locally and internationally.

His work entails undertaking agricultural trade related research as well as partaking into cross cutting projects. His other research areas of interest include development economics, climate change, policy analysis as well as Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E). Moses has participated and accomplished a number of research projects. He has published peer reviewed papers in accredited journals and has contributed to five book chapters. Prior to joining the NAMC, Moses served as a postdoctoral research fellow at South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC), and exhibits a broad understanding of the farming systems in Eastern and Southern Africa. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics (University of the Free State, South Africa) and a MSc. in Agricultural & Applied Economics (Makerere University, Uganda). He is also skilled in a number of economic analytical packages.

Professor Juliana Mulmicit Mafwil was born in Langtang North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. She is a founder and Trustee to many Non- Governmental Organizations. She relocated to Pathfinder Christian University in 2017 as Professor of Political Economy and Development Studies and Dean Management and Social Sciences in Jos. She has previously been a National Focal Point for the AUDA-NEPAD STEM Project and is the current National Focal Point(Nigeria) of the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogue. Her membership of professional Associations includes the Alumni Association of the National Institute (ANNI), Member Political Science Association (NPSA), member, Nigeria Institute of Development among others.

Juliana is also Farmer. She has to her credit published 2 books and 13 Journals, Conference Papers and Presentations

Dr. Claudia Emerson is the Director of the Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation at McMaster University, Canada, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, and Associate Member in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences. Her work in applied ethics considers ethics issues and policy gaps in global health research, and she has been working with stakeholders in the field for over fifteen years examining issues that arise along the discovery-to-delivery pathway for health technologies and interventions.  She is especially interested in ethics issues related to the introduction and adoption of novel technologies, the management of infectious disease, and data sharing and models of data governance. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a research program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that considers these issues.

Dr. Emerson serves in several advisory capacities related to public health and innovation, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic response. In the past year she has also supported the WHO in the development of guidance for testing of genetically modified mosquitoes, as well as in developing ethics guidance for controlled human infection studies to support the development of COVID-19 vaccines.  Dr. Emerson holds an Hons. BSc (Biochemistry), and MA and PhD in Philosophy (Bioethics).

Ruramiso Mashumba is a young woman farmer in Marondera. She holds a BA Degree in Agriculture Business Management from the University of West England (UWE) upon completing a degree in Agriculture Business Management, Ruramiso worked for one of United Kingdom's leading agriculture equipment companies. It was during that time Ruramiso realized how the use of equipment and technology could transform agriculture.

Ruramiso is the founder of Mnandi Africa, an organization that helps rural woman combat poverty and malnutrition by empowering and equipping women with skills and knowledge in agriculture, nutrition, markets and technology; assisting them access affordable and effective agro technology through an input-sharing program; and collectively purchase and sell goods and services. Mnandi's vision is to ultimately end hunger and poverty. She has been nominated for several agriculture awards and won the young farmer leader award which was presented by industry and government. In 2018 Ruramiso won the iconic African award for farming and agriculture. Ruramiso was selected for the Cornell Alliance for science fellowship in 2019. She also won the JCI top 10 young person awards in 2019. In 2020 Ruramiso was named one of the top 1000 entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. She was also selected to be one of the top 54 women in Africa.

Dr Keabetswe T. Ncube, Founder and CEO of Kea Ncube Agri Services (PTY) LTD and Co-Founder of Feminine Farmers.

Dr Ncube studied PhD in Genetics at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Her PhD focused on growth and carcass genetics, developing methods for improved management practices that lead to improved growth as well as improved meat yields in South African goat populations. The study also develops better and cost-effective management methods for smallholder farmers. Dr Ncube has worked as a Microbiologist and a Quality Control officer at Mageu No.1, a division of FoodCoorp as well as Microbiology and teaching assistant at the Tshwane University of Technology.

She joined the Agricultural Research Council, Biotechnology platform as a postgraduate researcher where she also worked as a coordinator for the community based breeding program and conducted training workshops for the farmers within the project also as part of the African Goat Improvement Network (AGIN) an initiative of FeedTheFuture and USAID. She is currently working for her company as the CEO and executive consultant, her company focuses on consultancy, farmer training workshops and meat sales.  She is a former Next Einstein Forum Ambassador for South Africa (2017-2019), has been named a Top Outstanding Young Person in academic Excellence by Junior Chamber International South Africa (2017) and is a Black Woman In Science Fellow (2019). Ncube holds a BTech in Biotechnology with the Tshwane University of Technology and an MSc.  in Life Sciences with the University of South Africa. She has three publications and has co-authored one Book chapter.  

Dr. Boudibi Samir holds a doctorate (PhD) in hydropedology in arid regions from the University of Mohamed Khider of Biskra, Algeria in 2021. He is actually a researcher at the Scientific and Technical Research Center on Arid Regions (CRSTRA), Biskra, Algeria. His research interest includes smart irrigation and drainage systems, groundwater quality, soil salinity, remote sensing, spatial analysis and kriging as well as the application of machine learning in water and soil-related systems. He is a member of different national and international research projects including 3 PRIMA projects and1 ERANET project.

He contributed to 6 research publications in national and international journals, 1 book, 1 book chapter and 4 scientific papers. He has an invention registered at the Algerian National Industrial Property Institute (INAPI) on smart irrigation systems, which he would be presenting at the dialogue.

Dr Dumi Magadlela is an Executive and Leadership Coach, Coach Trainer and African Skills Development Practitioner, based in Midrand, Johannesburg. Dumi works for the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in the Pan African Capacity Building programme (PACBP). He is currently a Trustee and Board Member for the International Coach Federation (ICF) Foundation Board. The ICF Foundation works on promoting the coaching profession for social impact globally. Dumi is a co-founder and founding Chairperson of the Ubuntu Coaching Foundation (UCF) at The Coaching Centre (TCC), where he is a senior faculty member.

Dumi is part-time faculty and facilitator at the University of Stellenbosch’s Business School (USB), where he delivers a Module on African Coaching Perspectives in the MPhil in Management Coaching. Dumi lectures, coaches, and is a Facilitator and Mentor at the USAID-funded programme - Young African Leaders’ Initiative (YALI) where he served as the Deputy Chairperson of the YALI Regional Leadership Centre Advisory Board, based at UNISA’s School of Business Leadership (SBL). Dumi is a founding Board Member of the Africa-wide Africa Board for Coaching, Consulting and Coaching Psychology (ABCCCP), which promotes coaching across the African continent. He has coached hundreds of business professionals, managers, teams, and leaders from around the world. Dumi is married with three children, and loves coaching, reading and writing.