Speakers

Mr. Raimund Jehle, a German national, has been working for almost 20 years for FAO. He has a PhD in Agriculture Economics from Hohenheim University, Germany and has worked as a researcher and lecturer for various universities. He worked for the Government of Austria and the European Union prior to joining FAO. In FAO, he held various positions, e.g. FAO Representative for Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and Albania, Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia and since 2016 Regional Programme Leader for Europe and Central Asia.  He is based in Budapest, Hungary.

Dr. Eliud Kireger Director General/CEO of Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). KALRO is the National Agricultural Research Organization in Kenya that supports the agricultural sector. It comprises of sixteen research institutes spread across the country. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Managing Director/CEO of the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. Dr. Kireger earned his PhD in Plant Eco-physiology from the University of Wales (UK), MSc in Genetic and Tree breeding from University of Toronto (Canada) and a BSc in Forestry from Moi University (Kenya).

Dr. Stephen K. Nutsugah Director, CSIR-Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), Ghana since 2010. He was employed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research as a Plant Pathologist in 1994 to develop a research unit for applied plant pathology at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) headquartered at Tamale. He was a part-time Lecturer in Plant Pathology at the University for Development Studies, Tamale. He earned his BSc degree from the University of Ghana, Legon and his MSc and PhD degrees from the Tottori University, Japan

Mr. Mohammed Aliyu Dili He is currently Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Borno State, Nigeria. He studied Agriculture (Animal Science) and Public Administration. Before working at the Ministry of Agriculture in Borno State, he worked in the private sector (Pfizer Nigeria, General Freight, Lagos). He is the Vice Chairman at Abuja Municipal Council and the Special Adviser to the Governor of Borno State.

Dr. Csaba Gyuricza Hungarian agricultural engineer, soil engineer, university professor, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences - currently General Director of the National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre. He obtained simultaneously his Ph.D. from both the University of Agricultural Sciences of Gödöllő (SZIE), Hungary and the University of Agricultural Sciences of Vienna, Austria. He became adjunct professor in 2004. The same year he was appointed as National Expert at the Environment Institute of the European Union Joint Research Centre. In 2005 he became Director of University Experimental and Research Farm at SZIE. In 2004 he first took on the role of vice dean for vocational training & international affairs, then for Economics which he will later on lead as dean between 2012 and 2015. The same year he became professor at the University of Kaposvár and the SZIE and then was appointed President of the Agricultural and Rural Development Office. His main field of research is the study of the soil cultivation systems’ impact on the physical and biological condition of the soil of arable land and of small plots. He is further focusing on the development of green manuring and nutrient retaining plants under changing climate conditions. Since 2003 he has been examining the planting of energy crop on unfavourable land.

Ms. Anita Gyüre works as water management expert at the Ministry of Agriculture. From 2015 to 2017, she worked at the National Water Directorate of the Ministry of Interior of Hungary where she carried out the national coordination of the tasks related to agricultural water supply.

Between 2005 and 2014 she gained practical and middle management experience in water management as Head of the Department of Public Activity of the Water Management Association.

Ms. Boglárka Keller is an Agricultural Environmental Management Engineer, GIS specialist engineer, PhD student at Szent István University. Her main research topics are soil conservation and soil erosion; rainfall simulations, soil erosion modelling. She is also an assistant researcher (within the Ministry of Agriculture’s young researcher program), at National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (NARIC), Institute of Agricultural Engineering. Her institutional research topic focused on remote sensing applications and Visible (VIS) - Near Infrared (NIR) methodologies for plant nutrient management optimalization (with AISA Eagle Dual sensors, ASD Spectroradiometer, CUBERT hyperspectral camera).

Mr. András Domonyai Since 2013, he has been conducting experiments with new edible plants and cultivation processes in Africa, mainly in Kenya.

He has been involved in the establishment of the Congolese-Hungarian Economic Initiative (CHBI) and its agricultural subsection. He is one of the creators and developers of the "Teleki Samuel African-Hungarian Experimental Farms" system.

Dr. Azwihangwisi Maiwashe He is currently employed by the Agricultural Research Council as a Research Team Manager: Animal Breeding and Genetics. He is also acting as a General Manager for the Animal Production Institute. He is a proud graduate of the University of Venda where he obtained his BSc (Agric) degree. He holds a PhD in Animal Breeding and Genetics from Colorado State University, USA. His research focuses on development of selection tools applicable in breeding of efficient and profitable livestock. Most of the selection tools developed from his research have been adopted by the livestock industry and are widely used by farmers in their breeding programmes. The training of students at post-graduate level is also an important component of Prof Maiwashe’s research programme. Prof Maiwashe is a member of the South African Council for Scientific Professions, the South African Livestock Genomics Consortium, and the Council of the International Genetics Applied to Livestock Production. He is also a member of the Technical Committee of the Interbeef Workgroup of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR).

Mr. Ali Ahmed Abdi (Ali Sheikh) is currently CEO of regional humanitarian organization named Aged and Children Pastoralists Association (ACPA). This organization is currently working in Ethiopia (HQ), Kenya and the southern part of Somalia. Ali Sheikh founded ACPA in 2008 and since then supported more than 365,281 beneficiaries. During this time Ali Sheikh won twice (2015 & 2017) the highest Pastoralists developmental award from H.E Hailemariam Desalign, then Ethiopian Prime Minister. Ali Sheikh is an author as well opinion contributor to different political and socioeconomic publications in the Horn of Africa region. 

Mr. István Bessenyei Entrepreneur, innovator, owner and managing director of the Laurel Group. His specialty is commercial IT, corporate management systems, solutions for stores, commercial consultancy. Laurel Ltd. was created 25 years ago and has since won many domestic and international awards. The company was the first to obtain license and operate online cash registers linked to the National Tax and Customs Administrations of Hungary. His international career focuses on cooperation in a number of countries (South Africa, Italy, Belgium, United Arab Emirates) to promote the international expansion of the food tracking solution (TE-FOOD).

Mr. Dennis Zulu is director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and is also the ILO Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). An economist by training, his areas of specialization include development policy design and analysis, employment strategies, entrepreneurship development and programme management. Prior to this, he worked in academia and the private sector in his home country, Zambia. In his present position, Mr Zulu has worked in over nine countries in East, Southern and West Africa supporting ILO member states in various areas including employment and skills policy design and implementation.

Dr. József Kozári is currently Deputy Chancellor of the Szent István University, Hungary. He started working at the University in 1982. He was the first to organize the training of the instructors of agricultural consultants in Hungary with the support of University Dublin. In 1994, he set up the Department of Agricultural Consultancy. He earned his Candidate degree in the same year. He is the writer of the books "The Methodology of Agricultural Consultancy" and "Consultancy in Agriculture". He is the Vice-Chairman of the Association of Rural Advisers, Member of the National Advisory Committee and Head of the Strategic Working Group within the Committee.

Ms. Lilla Egri has been working at the Ministry of Agriculture in the field of international development projects for 13 years. Since December 2015, she has been the Head of the Unit responsible for the FAO Affairs and Development Projects and Deputy Head of the Department of EU and FAO Affairs. In this position, she is responsible for the coordination of the tasks related to the Shared Service Center Office and to the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations situated in Budapest, including the scholarship program. She actively takes part in the coordination of twinning and TAIEX projects and she is the Hungarian Focal Point for the South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Agricultural Development and Enhanced Food Security Program. 

Mr. Brian Baguma is a Ugandan FAO scholarship student of the Master's of Science in Rural Development and Agribusiness Engineering Programme at Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Agribusiness Management at Makerere University, Uganda.

Mr. Márk Horváth is currently Head of the Africa Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary. He is a career diplomat with extensive experience in the multilateral field, security policy, disarmament and non-proliferation. He served in postings in New York and in Geneva.

Mr. Péter Király is Head of Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary since 2015. He is responsible for coordinating the Ministry’s external relations with stakeholders in the regions of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Mr. Király studied Political Science and International Relations in Hungary, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Beyond his official duties at the Ministry of Agriculture, he is also interested in the history of Hungary’s diplomatic and economic relations in Africa and the Middle East.

Mr. Zsolt Mészáros is currently the Head of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Embassy of Hungary in Nairobi, Kenya. Previously he worked in training and assessment and travelled widely in Africa and Latin-America. He has a degree in International Economics from Corvinus University. Zsolt is an avid fan of innovative solutions for agriculture, energy and waste management. His main objective at his current job is to introduce Hungarian agro-innovations and organic products to the East-African market in order to tap into the enormous potential the region has to offer in terms of global food security.

Mr. Balázs Szélinger is the Economic and Trade Attaché at the Embassy of Hungary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has a long and vivid relationship with Africa since 1987, the first time he visited the continent. During his university years he specialized in the history of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. He worked as Assistant Professor at Mekelle University (Northern Ethiopia) from 2010 to 2014, and became a diplomat in 2017.

Mr. Richárd Vattay is an agricultural machinery and operation engineer. In the 1980s he initially worked in the cork industry and later in the financial sector in the field of innovation funding in different countries. Between 1989 and 1992 he was the CEO of Innovar Leasing Ltd. and an Executive Board Member of PVL Leasing Rt. Between 1994 and 1996 he was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Interbanka in Prague. For twenty years (1994-2014) he was co-owner of Epho Ltd., a business consultancy specialising in research and development projects. Between 1990 and 2015 Mr. Vattay was owner and CEO of the First Hungarian Factor House. Since 2014, he has been co-owner of B2B Advisory Services Ltd. and Director of Water&Soil Ltd.