Webinar: Irrigation development and agricultural water management in Africa: transitioning implementation for sustainable adaptation

Mure Agbonlahor is a Senior Agricultural Production and Marketing Officer at the African Union Commission. He is based in AU-SAFGRAD, a specialized technical office in Burkina Faso under the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture. Among other functions, AU-SAFGRAD supports African Union Member States in building resilient agriculture-based livelihoods by promoting the dissemination and adoption of climate-smart technologies to mitigate the challenges associated with dryland agriculture.

Boubacar Barry is a Hydraulician and Research Associate at IPAR, a Senegal-based think tank focused on rural development in Africa. He also holds the position of chairperson of the Technical Committee of Experts of the Global Water Partnership – West Africa section. He has almost 40 years’ experience as a scientist in hydrology and soil and water conservation engineering. His research interests are soil and water engineering related to basin hydrology, water quality, drainage, irrigation and erosion control. Research application is supported by his expertise in GIS, numerical and stochastic modeling and expert systems. He holds a PhD from Purdue University in the United States.

Regassa Namara is a Senior Water Economist at The World Bank, where he has contributed to several investment operations, mainly in irrigation and drainage, but also in areas such as dam rehabilitation and safety, cooperation in international waters, and sustainable land and water management. He is a focal point for The World Bank’s farmer-led irrigation development initiative. Prior to joining The World Bank, he held several positions at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), including heading the West Africa Regional Office in Accra, Ghana. He started his research and development career with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research in 1987. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Goettingen in Germany.

Petra Schmitter is a Senior Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and leads the Research Group on Sustainable and Resilient Food Production Systems. Her main research focuses on developing suitable water solutions for smallholder farmers to improve their agricultural resilience. Over the past 14 years she has mainly worked in interdisciplinary research for development projects in South-East Asia and West and East Africa in the field of farmer-led irrigation, water productivity, irrigation scheme modernization, land degradation and hydrological modelling. She holds an MSc in Bioengineering in Environmental Technology from the KU Leuven, an MSc in Water Resources Engineering from KU Leuven – VUB and a PhD in Agricultural Science from the University of Hohenheim.

Bancy Mati is Director of the Water Research and Resource Center and a professor at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya, where she focuses on agricultural water management and related topics. She has extensive experience as a consultant for organizations including FAO, WFP, IFAD, UNDP, The World Bank, NEPAD, AGRA, IWMI, Nile Basin Initiative and EAC. She is the chairperson of the Association of Irrigation Acceleration Platform, which promotes irrigation in Kenya. She is passionate about best practices in irrigation and agricultural water management in Africa and actively promotes these through her work. She holds a PhD in Rural Land Use and GIS.

Hans Komakech is the Centre Director of Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE – Futures), one of the Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence initiated by The World Bank. He is a socio-technical researcher with a keen interest in the study of transdisciplinary approaches to science and technology for development application. His research interests are in the areas of surface and groundwater management, irrigation development, urban water and sanitation management. He holds a PhD in Water Resources Management from IHE Delft/TU Delft Netherlands.

Nuhu Hatibu is the Regional Head, East Africa and Mechanization and Irrigation Lead at AGRA. His previous positions include CEO of Kilimo Trust, a not-for-profit agriculture-for-development organization, and professor in agricultural engineering at the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, where he taught for 20 years. He has been involved in the development and adoption of policy, institutional and technological innovations for holistic management of water for agriculture in 22 countries, and he has led research into and promotion of rainwater harvesting, making it a central water management strategy. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Engineering.

Gabriella Izzi is a Senior Irrigation and Drainage Specialist at The World Bank, which she joined in 2010. Her work focuses on irrigation development and rehabilitation, in both North and sub-Saharan Africa. She is increasingly interested in farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) and leads the team responsible for preparing The World Bank’s FLID guide. Prior to The World Bank, Gabriella worked for the FAO for five years, focusing on deficit irrigation, estimation of crop water requirements and yield response to water. She holds a PhD in Irrigation from Florence University, Italy.

Olufunke Cofie is a Principal Researcher and West Africa Regional Representative for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). She has over 20 years of international professional experience in research and project implementation in natural resources management in Africa, focusing on water and sanitation linkages to agriculture as well as on smallholder agricultural water management. In addition to her scientific research capacity, she has held research leadership positions for over 10 years. These include as the West Africa Regional Coordinator for the International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security, and lead for the multi-institutional research-for-development Challenge Program on Water and Food in the Volta River Basin. A former university don, she holds a PhD in Soil Science and an MBA.

Valere Nzeyimana is a Senior Water Development and Management Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Africa. Prior to joining the FAO, he worked as an independent consultant in water resource management, hydropower and agricultural engineering. For over 30 years, he has participated in agricultural and water resource management projects, efficient resource utilization and soil and water conservation. He has extensive work experience with international institutions such as UNICEF, FAO, IFAD, UNHCR and The World Bank, government technical cooperation agencies and international NGOs. He is fluent in French, English, Chinese and Kinyarwanda.

Jonathan Denison is an independent irrigation and agricultural water consultant, mainly for The World Bank and FAO. He has more than 20 years’ experience in water resource and agricultural development across Africa, focused on smallholder irrigation, catchment management and related rural livelihoods. He spent much of his early career in the field working on hydrology, large dam and related irrigation design and then on participatory research with smallholder farmers. After a few years in government and with NGOs, he worked for engineering and planning consulting companies in East Africa, Italy and South Africa, including as a company director. He holds an MSc in Renewable Energy and Development and a PhD in Irrigation Geography. He is also a chartered civil engineer.

Josiane Nikiema leads the Research Group on Water Pollution and Circular Economy at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Throughout her time at IWMI, which she joined in 2011, she has worked on and led several research activities, mostly in Africa and Asia, relating to domestic (sewered) wastewater treatment and reuse as well as recovery of nutrients and organic matter from fecal sludge and organic solid waste. The latter led to the development of fortified fertilizer pellets. She is also active in integrated urban water management and works on solutions for enhanced agricultural water security through the safe reuse of domestic (treated) wastewater for irrigation and aquaculture. Before IWMI, Josiane worked as an assistant professor at Université de Sherbrooke in Canada.