Knowledge exchange conference: Investing in farmer-led irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa

Ollando Allan is a Senior Engineer in Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. He is passionate about enabling smallholder farmers to make efficient use of water resources accessible to them for irrigation. He is also a strong promoter of environmental conservation and women and youth empowerment in agriculture. He blends local experience with knowledge obtained from wide international exposure in irrigation development and management from Egypt, Japan, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Carlijn Nouwen co-founded the Climate Action Platform for Africa (CAP-A) in 2021. With her Master’s Degree in Engineering, she leads CAP-A’s work on technical innovation. The platform works to unlock Africa’s potential as a global hub for climate action. Africa’s demographics, growth trajectory and natural resources, coupled with extremely low levels of current emissions, mean the continent can go beyond net zero to a substantial net-negative carbon footprint sooner than any other part of the world.

Thai Thi Minh is a Senior Researcher – Innovation Scaling at IWMI. Her research interests focus on innovation systems and scaling and food systems as well as action research approaches to engage multiple actors and stakeholders across sectors. She previously served as an assistant professor in the Department of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She has published over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, working papers and guides. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Science from Hohenheim University, Germany.

Laura Bonzanigo is a Senior Water Resources Management Specialist with the World Bank. She has spent the last six years working on water resources management in Africa, mostly in fragile countries and the Sahel region. She helps teams use analysis and stakeholder engagement to design long-term plans and projects. Prior to joining the World Bank, Laura was a researcher at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Italy. Laura holds a PhD in Climate Change Economics from the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy.

Macben Makenzi is a Senior Advisor for GIZ, based in East Africa. During the past decade, his work has focused on the promotion, design, evaluation and development of clean energy and water-energy efficiency projects in the energy and agri-food sectors. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Mechatronic Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Energy Technology. He is also an international trainer for the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).