Oshwal Centre -Westlands, Nairobi
SPEAKERS
Joel Mutai
Chief Executive Officer, aak-GROW/CropLife Kenya
Joel Mutai leads the organization’s strategic direction, policy and regulatory advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and partnerships to advance sustainable agriculture and responsible crop protection.
With over 20 years of experience, he serves in both regulatory and private sector roles in pesticide regulation, scientific assessment, and industry leadership at the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB).
Joel represents Kenya in national, regional, and international policy forums, including the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
He enjoys travelling, values time with his family, and is an enthusiastic tea lover who rarely lets a day pass without four cups.
Dr. Saliou Niassy
Coordinator of the African Union Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC).
Dr. Saliou has worked as a Senior Scientist in the Technology Transfer Unit and as a Postdoctoral Fellow on Thrips Bioecology under the AU-funded Grain Legume project between 2013-2015 at icipe.
He was the first Coordinator of AfroMont and the Land Matrix Initiative at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, between 2011 and 2013 and 2015 and 2017.
A member of the African Association of Insect Scientists (AAIS), where he has served as Secretary between 2013-2017 and then as President between 2017-2022. He is the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Tropical Insect Science (IF: 1.2).
His accolades are Biopesticide Development, Discovery of thrips aggregation behaviour and aggregation pheromones among others.
Stella Simiyu
Director General, CropLife Africa Middle East (CLAME)Stella Simuyu leads CLAME through its next phase of growth and impact across a 23-country network. She is a seasoned key actor in regulatory affairs, policy engagement, and stakeholder partnerships and has worked at the intersection of complex science and practical solutions. Always with farmers at the center.
Through CLAME, she has led regulatory harmonization initiatives across 20+ African and Middle Eastern countries, coordinated capacity-strengthening programs for regulators, and represented the organisation at global forums including UNEA and Regional Economic Communities
Dr. Patrick Ketiem
Director General of the Kenya Agricultural Research Organization (KALRO)
Appointed in 2026, he brings more than two decades of experience in agricultural research, innovation and public service.
Dr. Patrick Ketiem has served as Director of KALRO’s Agricultural Mechanization Research Institute and as a Chief Principal Research Scientist. At KALRO, he provides strategic leadership in advancing research, innovation, food security and climate-resilient agricultural development in Kenya.
He is an environmental and climate change specialist.
Betty Kibaara
Director, Food Initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation
Betty Kibaara leads the foundation’s investments in transforming food systems, specifically in innovations on smart food markets for the future, increasing access to nutritious foods through instructional procurement.
Beyond, Betty has led the implementation of the Yield-Wise Initiative to reduce food loss in maize (Tanzania), mangoes (Kenya), and cassava and tomato value chains to improve livelihoods for small holder farmers.
She chairs the Technical Working Group working towards the re-export of Kenyan mangoes to the EU and UK.
Betty is a firm believer that there is no food system transformation without the transformation of fresh produce markets in Africa.
Anthony K Mugambi
Anthony is an Information and Communications Technology professional turned pioneering dragon fruit farmer and Kenya’s first certified dragon fruit breeder.
Widely known as Kenya’s “King of Dragon Fruit,” he developed KIKA-1, a new dragon fruit variety for which he holds Plant Breeders’ Rights. As the founder of Gravity Farms and Chairman of the Dragon Fruit Society of Kenya, Anthony is helping shape the future of dragon fruit as an emerging fruit, in Kenya and across East Africa.
Programme
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