Tony is the Global Head of Seeds2B for The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) based in Nairobi, Kenya. Seeds2B is SFSA’s seeds stream that helps farmers access quality, affordable seeds of improved varieties for the crops they need. Tony leads the strategy and long-term planning for Seeds2B in Africa and Asia, including exploring new institutional arrangements for scaling and developing new partnerships. 

He is also the Chief of Party for key seeds delivery initiatives being implemented by SFSA including the USAID-funded Partnerships for Seed Technology Transfer in Africa (PASTTA) program, the BMGF-funded Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) program and the OneCGIAR Seed Equal initiative.  

David Wainaina, Program Manager , Context Global Development has 18 years of experience working across many countries in Sub-Saharan African. He is passionate about improving the livelihood of smallholder farmers across SSA by managing the processes that help them access innovative products or technologies. His most recent 6 years’ experience includes managing business and commercial operations in Africa (Tropical SSA-wide and later specifically the Eastern Africa). These operations also included seed variety development operations in R&D sites in the targeted geographies.  

Other areas of expertise include strong multi-level stakeholder engagement and networking skills gained across the diverse and multicultural environment in Sub-Saharan Africa. He also had remarkable success in the pharmaceutical and public health sectors where he contributed to the management and goal achievement of several high-level projects in multiple countries. The projects involved many stakeholders such as the private sector, Govt and multiple donors and implementing partners.

He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management (MBA)  and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (BCom)  both awarded by the University of Pune, India. David speaks French at a professional level.

Under her leadership, a multi-disciplinary team at Msingi East Africa scoped, designed and implemented multiple interventions across two growth industries (Aquaculture, Textiles & Apparel), creating over 800 jobs and crowding in others / convening further interventions from multiple private and public sector actors. She is passionate around improvement of fish genetics to improve incomes of SMEs in the sector. Her passion for need to invest and grow local SMES while working on the underlying enabling policy environment speaks to a lot of what AGRA does .

Besides her corporate commitments, she is a girl-child mentor and a social enterprise enthusiast that is working tirelessly to shine a light on the women of Africa as the catalytic link to sustained economic transformation. Her board involvement with the African Network for the Care of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (ANECCA) and Doctors Choice among others have served to catalyze innovations to improve access and share emerging best practices in Africa.

Aggie, a Ugandan national, holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool and an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences from Makerere University, Uganda. She is also trained in Market Systems Development. She recently completed a select pioneering class of the Global CEO Program (IESA -University of Navarra).

She describes herself as a pragmatic and results oriented leader with over 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles across multiple private and public sector industries (Tobacco, Beverages & Multimedia) and most recently successfully transitioned to the economic development space (Aquaculture, Textile & Apparel) accomplishing remarkable growth and impact across five sectors.

Rob Bertram is the Chief Scientist in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, where he serves as a key adviser on a range of technical and program issues to advance global food security and nutrition. In this role, he leads USAID’s evidence-based efforts to advance research, technology and implementation in support of the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. He previously served as Director of the Office of Agricultural Research and Policy in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, which leads implementation of the Feed the Future research strategy and related efforts to scale innovations in global food security efforts, working with a range of partners. Prior to that, he guided USAID investments in agriculture and natural resources research for many years. Dr. Bertram’s academic background in plant breeding and genetics includes degrees from University of California, Davis, the University of Minnesota and the University of Maryland. He also studied international affairs at Georgetown University and was a visiting scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been especially active in plant genetic resources policy as it relates to research for development, including applications of biotechnology in food security-related research. Before coming to USAID, he served with USDA's international programs as well as overseas with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system.