CONTRIBUTORS
Zenebe Adimassu is a PhD student at Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands. Zenebe served as AHI site coordinator for the Galessa site before he initiated his PhD studies. He co-edited a book entitled Working with Rural Communities on Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM), which profiles AHI research and development outputs from Galessa site, Ethiopia.
Diana Akullo works with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in eastern and central Africa (ASARECA) Secretariat in Entebbe, Uganda, under the Staple Crops Programme. She previously worked as a Senior Research Officer in Quality Assurance with the Secretariat of Uganda's National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO). Her work has been to facilitate learning in the agricultural research domain in eastern and central Africa. She holds a PhD in social science, with a focus on institutional reforms in response to national and regional development policies.
Tilahun Amede is currently a leader of the Nile Basin Challenge Programme on Water for Food (CPWF), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Before assuming his current position, he served as a Systems Agronomist for the African Highlands Initiative and the Tropical Soils Biology and Fertility Institute with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Tilahun has served as Guest Editor for special issues in the Rangeland Journal (2009) and Experimental Agriculture (2011).
Shenkut Ayele works with the Catholic Relief Service in Ethiopia as Early Warning Assessment and Response Manager. He previously served as a Socio-Economics and Extension Researcher and Head of the Research and Extension Department at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. Shenkut holds an MSc in Agricultural Extension Education from the University of Agriculture Dharwad (UAS-Dharwad), India.
Leulseged Begashaw is a plant pathologist with the Southern Agricultural Research Institute, based at the Areka Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia. He led AHI's research on vertebrate pest control in Areka benchmark site.
Berhanu Bekele is a wheat breeder at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia. He was one of the researchers who introduced different improved barley varieties in Galessa and the surrounding areas.
Francis Byekwaso is Planning and Monitoring Manager for the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) in Uganda. He holds a PhD in Nutrition Planning and Decentralization. Past work has included action research on pro-poor decentralized service delivery; community-based agricultural extension services; farmer empowerment and demand for agricultural extension services; and natural resource management.
Mulugeta Diro holds a PhD in Plant Physiology and currently works as an independent consultant on a collaborative NRM project with Wageningen University. Before assuming this responsibility, Mulugeta was the Director of the Crop Directorate, Southern Regional Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Awassa, Ethiopia. He also served as a National Coordinator for enset research in Ethiopia.
Laura German is Senior Scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia, where she contributes to CIFOR's research on managing the impacts of globalized trade and investment on forests and forest communities. Past work has included action research on integrated natural resource management and landscape governance with AHI; human ecological research in the Brazilian Amazon; and agricultural development in Honduras. She holds a PhD in Cultural and Ecological Anthropology. Her recent publications include two edited volumes, Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World (Earthscan, 2009) and Beyond the Biophysical (Springer, 2010), and a special issue in Ecology and Society on the social and environmental impacts of biofuels.
Girma Hailu holds a PhD in Agroecology from Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is an agricultural scientist with over 12 years’ experience in designing, conducting, and managing research projects. He has worked as Program Coordinator at Farm Radio International (Canada), Project Manager at African Highlands Initiative (AHI), and Research Scientist at World Agroforestry Centre. He currently works as an independent consultant.
Rick Kamugisha is a social scientist with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), based in Kampala, Uganda. He holds an MA in Development Studies from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda. Rick has been involved in facilitating local communities in natural resource management and governance through efforts to strengthen local level policies and grassroots institutions under Landcare and AHI. He has vast experience working with policy taskforces, innovation platforms and conflict management in NRM. Rick has worked with AHI for nine years.
Bekele Kassa is a Senior Pathologist with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, based at Holetta Agricultural Research Center (HARC). Bekele served as a site coordinator in the second phase of AHI and was one of the researchers who facilitated Farmers’ Field Schools on potato late blight in the Galessa and Jeldu areas.
Charles Lyamchai is a principal agricultural research officer at Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania. His current work focuses on improving natural resource governance at community level and mainstreaming Integrated Natural Resource Management in research and development institutions to foster sustainable management of natural resources, increased income and poverty alleviation. He holds an MSc in Agro-meteorology.
Hussein Mansoor holds a PhD in Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He is currently an assistant director for crop research in the Division of Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives, Tanzania. Before assuming his current post he was involved in numerous research activities in land management, integrated natural resource management, integrated soil fertility management and soil and water conservation at Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania.
Kenneth Masuki is a knowledge management specialist with the African Highlands Initiative, based at the World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. His professional experience includes research in agriculture, soil and water management, integrated natural resource management, and knowledge management. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Education and Extension from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Waga Mazengia is a senior researcher in agronomy at the Southern Agricultural Research Institute, based as the Hawassa Agricultural Research Center. Waga coordinated AHI project activities at Areka benchmark site for many years.
Joel Meliyo holds an MSc in Soil Science and Land Management from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). He has extensive experience in soil and land resources inventories, mapping, land evaluation and suitability assessment for land use planning, using tools such as remote sensing, geographical information systems and research on integrated soil fertility management. He is currently pursuing his PhD at SUA.
Jeremias Mowo holds a PhD in Soil Science from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. He has over 30 years of research and development experience in natural resources management in eastern Africa. Currently, he is the Regional Coordinator for ICRAF eastern Africa. His areas of interest include integrated natural resource management, farmer participatory research and research on methods and approaches for technology transfer.
Simon Nyangas is a coordinating secretary for the Landcare Chapter in Kapchorwa, Uganda and serves as the NAADS Coordinator in the town council overseeing Agricultural Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services. Previous responsibilities included agricultural extension services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in Kapchorwa local government, where he worked on sustainable conservation and development in Mt. Elgon. He is an agronomist by training.
Chris Opondo, sociologist by profession, joined AHI in 2002 as a regional research fellow with an emphasis on monitoring and evaluation. In 2008 he joined United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a monitoring and evaluation manager, based in Pretoria, South Africa. In May 2011 Chris passed away after an acute asthmatic attack. All members of the AHI and partners who worked with him will continue to remember him for the contribution he made to science and practice, as illustrated in this volume.
Pascal Sanginga is a senior programme specialist for Agriculture and Environment at the International Development Research Centre's regional office for eastern and southern Africa. Pascal joined the African Highlands Initiative in 1999 as a regional research fellow, and went on to work for the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as Senior Social Scientist. He holds a PhD in Rural Sociology and has conducted and managed interdisciplinary and participatory action research for agriculture and natural resource management in eastern, southern, western and central Africa. His recent publications include two edited volumes, Innovation Africa: Enriching Farmers’ Livelihoods (Earthscan, 2009) and Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa: A Resource Book (University of Nairobi
Press, 2010).
Joseph Tanui is an agricultural economist and coordinates the Landcare program based at the World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. Joseph has extensive experience on smallholder collective action and grassroots institutional development, from a research, policy and extension perspective. He is currently undertaking PhD research at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, with a focus on the institutional economics of sustainable land management.
Wilberforce Tirwomwe holds a BA in Social Sciences with a specialization in Development Studies and has extensive experience in facilitating local communities in natural resource management and governance in Kabale District, Uganda. He worked as a consultant for both AHI and ICRAFUganda's Landcare program. He currently works for CARE International in Kabale District, Uganda.
Adugna Wakjira holds a PhD in Crop Breeding, with a focus on oil crops. He is a senior researcher with the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute, based at Holetta Agricultural Research Center.
Juma Wickama holds an MSc in Soil and Land Management from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. He currently works at the Agricultural Research Institute of Tanzania as a principal researcher in soils and soil management consultant. The bulk of his work has focused on researching and promoting efficient resource use in the West Usambara mountains and reclamation of salt affected fields on the lower slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania. He is currently a PhD student at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
Gebremedhin Woldegiorgis is a senior researcher at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, based at the Holetta Agricultural Research Center (HARC). With expertise in potato breeding and production, he is currently seconded by the International Potato Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.