Senior Management Committee

Dr. Christian Henning, is lead scientist at Akademiya2063. He is currently on leave as a professor and chair of agricultural economics, University of Kiel (Germany), where he taught agricultural economics and computational political economy since 2000. His main areas of specialization are applied political economy and applied economic modelling of agricultural and development policies. He has over 30 years of experience, as scientist and consultant, in developing and applying innovative methods for modelling and evaluating policy processes especially in African and European countries, where he worked with leading international research institutions and universities including University of Chicago (James Coleman, Department of Sociology), Stanford University (Barry Weingast, Department of Political Science), MIT (Prof. Ezra Zuckerman, Sloan School of Management), IFPRI, the FAO, the World Bank and the EU.

Dr. Christian Henning studied economics, agricultural economics, sociology, political science and mathematics and earned PhD’s in agricultural economics, in economics and in political science.

Getaw Tadesse holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway). He has more than 10 years of experience in agricultural development and food security research and project management.

Before joining AKADEMIYA2063, he worked as a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany. His research seeks to understand (a) the dynamics of food prices and trades at local, national, regional and global markets; (b) the role of the private sector and civil society in African agri-food system and public supports needed to enhance their competitiveness; and (c) the impacts of policies and programs on food and nutrition security, commercialization of smallholders, competitiveness of private enterprises and food markets.

His research has a geographical focus in Africa with extensive experience in Ethiopian agricultural development and food systems. He is very conversant on household and plot level data collection and econometric methods.

He has published over 20 articles in professional journals and books listed in Google scholar with citations (782) and h-index (10). Furthermore, he has contributed to enhancing the capacity of African experts and policymakers on national agricultural investment planning, assessment of program and policy opportunities and the use of evidence-based planning and implementation of food security and employment generation programs.

Dr Wambo Yamdjeu is the Director of Knowledge Systems at AKADEMIYA2063. He is an international Agricultural Economist and rural development specialist with over 20 years of experience. Until December 28, 2021 and prior to joining A2063 in his current capacity, Augustin spent 08 years at the AUDA-NEPAD working on various aspects of state capabilities development, strategic policy reforms, facilitation of private sector engagement in the food systems, program design and implementation in the context of translating the political visioning of agriculture transformation encapsulated in the Malabo Declaration, into a set of tangible actions. As such, he has made extensive contributions into knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation, multi-stakeholder engagement platform facilitation, and tailored coaching across different governance levels of the CAADP process.

Before joining the AUDA-NEPAD in September 2013 for the second time, Dr Wambo Yamdjeu had served at the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development as their Task Leader (Advisor) on CAADP and ARD in Africa. This tenure was an eye opener that made him familiar with the political economy, the aid/development effectiveness agenda and discourse. As a versatile thinker, who pays attention to details, Dr Wambo Yamdjeu has increasingly gained interest in the nexus between climate change and the transition towards our changing food systems as the continent seeks to ensure resilience and sustainability.

Always keen on making valuable contributions in both scholar debate and practical field endeavors to problem solving in Africa, Augustin holds a Ph.D. (with distinctions) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Paris-Sud 11, an M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the National Advanced School of Agronomy (ENSA) of Montpellier, France, and an M.Sc. in Agric Engineering from the University of Dschang, Cameroon. Augustin demonstrates fluency in professional French and English.

Sunday Pierre Odjo is Deputy Director of the Department of Operational Support. He is an agricultural economist with research interest in farm household modeling and trade and agricultural policy analysis.

Before transitioning over to AKADEMIYA2063, he served as a Senior Research Coordinator in the Africa Division of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Over the past ten years, he has supported West African Authorities for the development of national agricultural investment plans as part of IFPRI’s scientific and technical assistance to the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP).

He recently led several survey projects in Niger as part of a collaborative research work between IFPRI and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Prior to joining IFPRI, he served as an Agricultural and Trade Policy Advisor in the Secretariat of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of West and Central Africa, facilitating country-level implementation of CAADP Framework for Improving Rural Infrastructure and Trade-Related Capacities for Market Access.

He holds a PhD in Rural Economics from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium and an MA in Geography and Land Use Planning from the National University of Benin.

Prior to joining AKADEMIYA2063 as Director of Data Management, Digital Products and Technology, Racine worked as a ReSAKSS Research Coordinator at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). His primary areas of research are in Predictive Modeling, Machine Learning techniques applied to geospatial data and crop type classification with unsupervised learning techniques. Racine believes in harnessing technology and digital tools to impact policy and decision-making processes in the agricultural sector.

Racine is a 2018 Obama Leaders Africa program fellow. He holds a Master's degree in Mathematical Modeling and Multi-Scale Simulation through a joint degree program between the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and the Paris-Est Marne-La-Vallée University. He subsequently earned a doctoral degree in the field of Engineering Sciences applied to Spatial Transport Systems, through the French Space Agency (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) and the University of Bordeaux.

As Director of External Relations, Tsitsi Makombe leads the organization’s efforts to build, enhance, and maintain innovative and strategic partnerships. She cultivates relationships with a diverse array of partners and stakeholders including continental and regional organizations, national governments, non-state actor organizations, and investors.

Prior to joining AKADEMIYA2063, Tsitsi was a Senior Program Manager with the International Food Policy Research Institute where she successfully managed diverse partnerships and multi-year projects and programs in support of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

She is a certified project management professional (PMP) with over 15 years of programmatic and research experience in African agricultural development. A citizen of Zimbabwe, Tsitsi received her M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University and a B.S. degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources from Africa University.

Dr. Layih Butake is a versatile, result-oriented communication and program management professional with over ten years of experience in not-for-profit communications, program management, and research in the higher education and international development sectors.

Holder of a Master’s in Corporate Communication, a PhD in Performing Arts and Cinematography studies, four certifications in Project Management (PRINCE 2 Foundation & Practitioner and Project Management for Development Professionals (1 & 2)), a Core Humanitarian Certification and certificates in crisis, humanitarian communication and public relations, Layih brings a unique perspective from the blend of her academic and corporate background.

Before joining AKADEMIYA2063, Layih served as Acting Director of Communications at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Global Secretariat, previously holding the positions of Senior Outreach Manager and Communications and Outreach Manager at the same organisation. Other roles held include Adjunct Lecturer at the Performance and Visual Arts Unit of the University of Buea and the Department of Arts and Archaeology at the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, and Research Officer at the S.T. Muna Foundation.

A highly passionate creative and excellent writer with a solid background in strategy, content development and research, she is exceptionally skilled in scripting and directing audio-visual productions. Creative writing, events, media relations, program management, and the conception of a wide range of communications collateral are central to her work.

Dr. Mahamadou Tankari is the Deputy Director of the Department of Capacity and Deployment at AKADEMIYA2063. Previously, Mahamadou worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Senegal where he carried out policy-oriented research.

His research interests cover agricultural economics, health economics, food security and poverty issues. He has authored and co-authored many published articles in peer-reviewed journals including Food security, Journal of Development Studies, Economic Modelling, Agricultural Economics and Journal of African Economies.

Mahamadou received his PhD in Economics from the University of Pau, France. He holds a Master’s degree in Statistics and Economics from ENSAE Senegal and a Masters in Mathematics from the University 08 Mai 1945, Algeria.

CPA Amos Kimebur is a dedicated and seasoned finance and administration professional with over two decades of comprehensive experience in accounting, finance, and management across various sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has worked for reputable international and commercial organizations such as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Africas Voices Foundation (AVF) in Senior Finance roles. He has a proven track record in managing complex multi-dimensional programs and operations. At ILRI, he was the pioneer finance lead for Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub, a shared research platform that is a centre of excellence for biosciences in Africa. As the Head of Finance at AATF, he contributed to the incubation and management of start-ups with regional and continental footprint, such as EcoBasic Seeds Ltd, Agridrive Nigeria Ltd, and QualiBasic Seeds Kenya Ltd, demonstrating his versatility and entrepreneurial spirit.

As AKADEMIYA2063’s Director of Finance and Administration, he will be responsible for finance, administration, fiscal management, contracts, and grant management, as well as financial and grant reporting.

Her holds an MBA in Finance from Kenyatta University and CPA-K certification. He is an active member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), where he sits in the Professional Standards Sub-committee and also as an evaluator for the annual Financial Reporting (FiRe) Award, the most prestigious and coveted Award in East Africa for financial reporting. Amos is committed to upholding integrity, inclusivity, and respect for diversity, in all his engagements.