Leadership

David Kamau is a seasoned business executive with over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical and Fast Moving Consumer Goods industries. Through his vast experience, David has developed strong business management acumen with fully developed analytical skills for business management and decision-making at senior levels, solid understanding of strategy formulation, designing and implementing results bearing business strategies and work plans. David has extensive regional commercial experience having previously worked for Astra Zeneca as a sales manager in Kenya & Uganda, exports & country manager for Haco Tiger Brands covering the COMESA region and Tanzania.

He has also held senior director positions at Haco Tiger Brands as commercial director & marketing director with oversight over the company’s East African operations. David served as Managing Director and CEO of Proctor & Allan (EA) Ltd for 7 years and spearheaded the company’s restructuring and expansion of its operations with an investment in a state of the art manufacturing plant in Limuru, Kenya. As Managing Director & CEO of Proctor & Allan, he was involved in driving the breakfast cereals & porridge business and championed the rebranding and development of new product initiatives geared towards improving health & nutrition of the target consumers.

David holds a Bachelor of Science degree (Fisheries) from Moi University in Eldoret and earned an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of Nairobi and has further been awarded the designation of Chartered Marketer SA by the Marketing Association of South Africa (CMSA).

John Taylor is a food scientist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  His specialization is in grain science and technology, focusing on the grains and grain-based foods of Africa.  He also has strong interest in grains for nutrition, especially in food-based approaches to prevent micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) malnutrition, the Hidden Hunger.

John’s life mission is to undertake research, development and implementation work into the nutritional quality and processing of African grains with the aim of improving food security and promoting economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.  He is author and co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and some 50 book chapters on these topics.  He has also been senior editor of two technical handbooks, one on gluten-free ancient grains as sustainable, nutritious, and health-promoting foods and the other on the chemistry, technology and nutritional attributes of sorghum and millets.  

An equally important aspect of this mission is to educate and train food scientists, the food industry and people in the community in sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, he has been supervisor and co-supervisor of more than 100 doctoral and master graduates and he has presented training courses on the processing of grains and other foods across the region. Additionally, he has worked with numerous food processing companies in the region, ranging from multinationals to small- and micro-enterprises and consulted to several international organizations.

John is a Past-president and an Honorary president of the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), and a Fellow of ICC, the Cereals and Grains Association (CGA) and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology, and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.  He is recipient of several awards, most recently the CGA’s T.B. Osborne Medal and the ICC’s Clyde Bailey Medal.

Johnes is a versatile and seasoned business leader with over 20 years’ experience in the Food Industry: Extensive expertise and hands-on experience in strategy formulation and execution, Financial modelling for manufacturing enterprises, Change and Strong management acumen, Systems/Process re-engineering and commited enthusiasm in devising and implementing work plans for accelerated business growth.
Johnes has held various positions of increasing responsibility in the FMCG sector while switching seamlessly between strategy and operations: Served as business leader and CEO for six years at Kaliti Food Share company (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) with full responsibilities on business turn-around (loss to profitability), expansion and portfolio growth as well as re-modelling the overall business structure.

Prior to Ethiopia, Johnes managed UNGA Ltd Nairobi’s Industrial area factory handling both Maize and Wheat milling plants as well as Porridges and the Pulses businesses. From 2006 -2012, he worked at America ’s Corn Products International (currently Ingredion plc) as Operations Manager for the business’s soleCorn wet milling plant in Africa: Later appointed to the Global Innovation and Continuous Improvement Team representing the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Johnes has rich experiences with cereals processing, fresh produce exports, Avocado oil extraction, pasta/biscuits manufacture, fruits and vegetables processing just but to mention a few. As a Consultant, he has advised and assisted many SME ’s in East Africa to navigate through daily business challenges; Also engaged in promoting consumption of fortified whole grain foods through numerous initiatives … carrying out processors mapping for gaps and potential scoping and capacity development through technical assistance under different projects/programs in different countries.

Johnes is a certified QMS auditor, Executive coach for managers and a Kaizen practitioner. He holds Masters in Strategy Mgt., a BSc. Degree – Food Science and Technology (Nairobi University) and Trainings in Process Engineering. He is passionate about growth in the entire food supply chain especially when dealing with agri-based formations that promote improving food productivity, quality and safety

Entrepreneur and Senior Consultant working on delivering purpose-driven, profit-imperative, and social impact-focused projects with over 17 years’ experience in General management, Marketing and Brand management, Strategic planning, Product, and market development in the consumer goods industry in Asia, Middle East, North and East Africa and Europe. Currently associated and interested in sustainable projects that create social impact in areas of agriculture, nutrition, and financial inclusion in East Africa.

Former Commercial Director of Africa Improved Foods Rwanda.

Joy is a skilled research professional with over four years of experience in implementing research projects. She has cross-cutting experience in the private sector, non-governmental organizations, clinical nutrition and humanitarian space. She is experienced in planning and executing research projects from commission to completion, including project scoping, study tools development, client engagement, budgeting, qualitative and quantitative data collection, data analysis and reporting. Additionally, she has experience in proposal development and all-round research support.

Her educational background is in Nutrition and Dietetics, and her professional background has been built on research with a focus on Nutrition and Social research. As a result, this has immensely developed her project management skills, that have seen her manage interdisciplinary projects in various African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Nigeria.

Joy is passionate about driving social impact through handling projects that reinforce positive nutrition practices. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the Technical University of Kenya. She is an affiliate member of the Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute (KNDI) and Marketing and Social Research Association (MSRA).

Walter is a passionate food scientist with long experience in different roles within the Research & Development function, both at local and global level. He is an international director-level leader with strong credentials in the areas of Scientific and Regulatory affairs, Quality management, Health & wellbeing, and Sustainability topics. For more than 34 years, he held various senior R&D positions at Mars Inc. and gained a solid experience in applying science to resolve business challenges as well as in transforming organizations and building high performing collaborating R&D teams.

During more than 10 years, he represented MARS Inc at EUFIC (European Food Information Council) and served as board member, executive officer, and treasurer. He has had the privilege to represent MARS Inc in the IFBA (International Food and Beverage Association) technical working group on sodium reduction and was a key-contributor in the effort to define the maximum sodium thresholds for the relevant food categories. This became the subject of an IFBA commitment to the WHO at the end of 2021.