Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

President, AfDB

Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina is the 8th elected President of the African Development Bank Group. He was elected to the position on May 28, 2015 by the Bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Adesina, 58, is a distinguished development economist and agricultural development expert with 25 years of international experience. He is the first Nigerian to serve as President of the Bank Group.

Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba

Vice Chancellor, AE-FUNAI

Chinedum Nwajiuba, Professor of Agricultural Economics since  October 2004, is the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He started lecturing in the Nigerian University system at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike in the 1995/1996 session. He has been Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at the Imo State University since the 2011/2012 session.

Prof. Nwajiuba is cerebral academic and consummate professional that has contributed immensely to the expansion of frontiers of knowledge through his numerous publications. He has published over 160 articles and papers as conference and conference proceedings and in international and local high impact factor journals as well as books and book chapters.

Dr. Issoufou Kollo Abdourhamane

Cowpea Project Manager, AATF, Kenya

Issoufou Kollo Abdourhamane holds a Doctorate degree in Plant Pathology from Texas A&M University, USA; a Master’s in Plant Pathology and Bachelors in Plant Protection from Purdue University, Indiana, USA. Before joining AATF, Issoufou worked for the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development CORAF/WECARD) where he was the Coordinator for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Part.

Dr. Chikelu Mba

Team Leader, FAO, Rome, Italy

A Plant Breeder Geneticist, Chike leads the Seeds and Plant Genetic Resources Team of the Plant Production and Protection Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In this role, he is ultimately responsible for FAO’s work on crop improvement – a portfolio which encompasses the provision of support to member countries on the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA); plant breeding and seed delivery systems. Additionally, he serves on the organization’s Interdepartmental Working Group on Biotechnologies.

Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe

Former VC, UNILAG & AE-FUNAI

Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe (OFR, FAS, FAEng, FNCS, FNIM)  is a distinguished Professor of Systems Engineering, a former Vice Chancellor (2000-2007) of the University of Lagos and Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

With over 150 research articles and paper publications to his name, Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe was elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Science (AAS) as well as that of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2010 and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2015. He was conferred the national honour as Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2004

Prof. Olu Odeyemi

Dept. of Microbiology, OAU, Ile-Ife

Prof. Olu Odeyemi attended Ilesa Grammar School (1959-1963) and Abeokuta Grammar School (1965-1966). He obtained B.Sc. (Soil Science, 2nd Class Upper) in 1970 at University of Ibadan, M.Sc. (Agronomy) and Ph.D. (Microbiology) at Cornell University Ithaca, New York in 1974 and 1976 respectively. He received further professional training at Cambridge University, U.K; McGill University, Canada, and Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

Prof. Olu Odeyemi has supervised thesis research for about 700 undergraduate students and 50 postgraduate students. Among the distinguished Students mentored by Prof. Odeyemi are Prof. G.O Babalola (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), Prof. A.O Ogunseitan (University of Califonia, U.S.A), Prof. A.T. Abiola International professor of Microbiology, Canada), Prof.N. Esiobu (Florida Atlantic University, U.S.A) Prof. Kola Oloke, (LadokeAkintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso)
and Prof. Boboye (FUTA, Akure). Prof. Odeyemi has over 80 research publications.

Dr. Francis Chuks Ogbonnaya

Manager, SGRI, Canberra, Australia

Dr. Ogbonnaya is an experienced Senior Executive with more than 25 years in leading, developing, managing and implementing R&D innovations in Agriculture portfolios in a range of sectors across different continents; with repeated success guiding and managing sizeable, cross-functional research and development teams; engaging with industry in developing research collaborations and strategic national and international initiatives that deliver research outputs to improve profitability and sustainability of farm businesses in developed and developing countries.

Dr Ogbonnaya serves as the Manager, Oilcrops and Pulses at Grains Research and Development Corporation, Australia where he has held several positions: General Manager, Capacity and National Program, Senior Manager - Crop Genetics and Theme Coordinator, Improving Crop Yield, among others.