Nationally recruited staff (NRS) appointment – Nairobi

Eric Kamau joined International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) as ICT Project Manager in the Information, Communication and Technology department in January 2017. He has over 7 years’ experience in project management, change management, process re-engineering, business analysis, staff optimization & innovations/ideas management in various sectors including financial services, insurance and Internet service provider. He has a BSc in Computer Science, certified PRINCE2 Practitioner, Certified Business Analyst, ITILV3Expert and currently pursuing MSc Information Systems at United States International University (USIU), Kenya.

 

Nationally recruited staff (NRS) appointments – Addis Ababa

Alemayehu Ayeligne has been appointed as Driver in Africa RISING Project effective January 2017.  Alemayehu holds BA degree in Economics from Bahir Dar University and Diploma in Auto-mechanics from Alpha Higher Institute of Distance Studies. Prior to joining ILRI Africa Rising Project, he was working as a Driver at ILRI LIVES Project at Amhara Regional Office until December 2016

 

Nizam Husen was been appointed as Research Associate – Natural Resources Management and Institutions in Sustainable Livestock Systems Program (SLS) effective January 2017. Nizam holds MSc in Agricultural Economics from University of Hohenheim, Germany and a BSc in Agricultural Economics from Jimma University, Ethiopia. Before joining ILRI, he was working as Research Assistant at University of Hohenheim, Germany.

 

Menilik Chanyalew has been appointed as Accountant-Research in Finance department effective January 2017. Menilik holds an MSc degree in Accounting and Finance, a BA degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Before joining ILRI, he was working as Consultant for CNFA/USAID funded Projects and UN Office of Project Service (UNOPS), Ethiopia.

 

Chalachew Degie has been appointed as Accountant in Finance department in February 2017.  Chalachew holds MBA in Business Administration from Bahir Dar University, BA degree in Accounting from Alpha Distance Learning University and a Diploma in Accounting from Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Prior to joining ILRI, he was working as Junior Accountant in the International Potato Center (CIP) Ethiopia.

 

Abbay Fikru joined ILRI as ICT Customer Service Technician in Information Communication Technology (ICT) department in February 2017. Abbay holds a BSc degree in ICT from Admas University College, Ethiopia and Diploma in Information Technology (IT) from Queens’ College, Ethiopia. Formerly, he was working as Senior IT Expert at MIDROC Ethiopia Project Office (MEPO), Ethiopia.

 

Fiseha Sisay was appointed as Executive Chef in Housing, Catering and Conference Service Unit effective April 2017. Fisseha holds BA degree in Management from Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, Diploma in Accounting from Zegha Business College, Diploma in Food & Nutrition from Entoto Technical and Vocational School and Certificate in Food Preparation, Hotel Supervisory from Catering and Tourism Training Institute (CTTI). Before joining ILRI, he was working as Executive Chef at Golden Tulip Hotel Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

 

Abiy Degefe was appointed as an Accountant in Finance department effective April 2017. Abiy is ACCA qualified and holds a BA degree and Diploma in Accounting from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Before joining ILRI, he was working as Senior Finance Officer at Concern Worldwide Ethiopia Office.

 

 

Gebrehiwot Hailemariam joined ILRI as a Monitoring & Evaluation Associate/Data Manager effective April 2017 in Africa RISING Project. Gebrehiwot holds an MSc degree in Agricultural Economics from Alemaya University, Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Extension & Teaching from Larenstein, the Netherlands and a BSc degree in Plant Science from Alemaya University of Agriculture. Before joining ILRI, he was working as Project Coordinator at International Potato Center (CIP) Ethiopia.

 

 

Nationally recruited staff (NRS) appointment – Vietnam

Chi Nguyen joined ILRI in March 2017 as the Regional Communications Officer for East and Southeast Asia. She will be based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Prior to joining ILRI, Chi worked as a communications and documentation specialist for FHI360 in Vietnam and communications officer for Centre for Sustainable Rural Development. Having solid background in journalism and communication, she has developed a number of strategic communication framework and products for these organizations. Chi holds a Bachelor of Culture and Linguistics from the National University of Hanoi.

 

 

Internationally recruited staff (IRS) appointments

Birhanu Lenjiso was appointed as a Post-Doctoral Fellow – Gender Analysis in Forage Research in the Policies, Institutions & Livelihoods program (PIL). He has over 10 years of teaching and research experience. He has taught sociology, gender and research courses at Ambo University, Ethiopia for six years. He has also served as chief academic program officer, coordinator of Center for Gender Initiatives (CGI) and head of the department of sociology and social works. He has also worked for ILRI as a research consultant. His research areas include land policy, smallholder agriculture, value chains, nutrition, and food security with strong focus on gender issues. He has published numerous works on the impact of agricultural development policies in international and national peer-reviewed journals. He has a PhD in Social Sciences from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands an MA in Sociology and BA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Addis Ababa University. Birhanu is Ethiopian and will be based in Nairobi.

Juliet Kariuki was appointed as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Gender with the Accelerated value chain Development program (AVCD), livestock breeding component in January 2017. She completed her PhD in Agricultural Sciences under the Division of Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development, at the University of Hohenheim. She holds a MA degree in Environment, Culture and Society and a BA degree in Sociology. Her doctoral research focused on understanding the social dimensions of payments for ecosystem service schemes in Kenya with a focus on gender and governance. She also has experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research on pastoralists’ vulnerability to climate change in arid and semi-arid lands and in understanding marketing and intra- household dynamics of poor men and women in livestock-dependent households from Africa. Juliet’s position is on a joint appointment with the University of Hohenheim and will mainly be based in Nairobi. Juliet is a Kenyan citizen.

Meki Muktar joined ILRI in January 2017 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Feed and Forage development program to work on forage genetics/genomics. He has an MSc in plant pathology from Haramaya University, Ethiopia and the second MSc on plant nematology from Ghent University, Belgium. His BSc is on plant science from Hawassa University, Ethiopia. He has worked as a plant pathologist in regional agricultural research institutes in Ethiopia as well as plant molecular genetics, such as on marker assisted breeding, QTL mapping, candidate genes and genome wide association mapping to detect genes/QTLs governing resistance to diseases in plants and diagnostic DNA markers associated or linked with resistance. He has also worked at the MaxPlanck institute and at Potato Germplasm Enhancement Laboratory, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan. He has a PhD on crop molecular genetics from MaxPlanck Institute for plant breeding research, Cologne Germany. Meki is an Ethiopian national.

Nicoline de Haan joined ILRI in February 2017 as Senior Scientist, Gender in the PIL program. Nicoline brings to the job extensive experience integrating social science and gender within research projects, both as leader and team member. She is a rural sociologist by training, and got her PhD researching the role of social capital within livestock projects. She has worked with and led multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams in Asia and Africa. Recently as core theme leader on gender, poverty, and institution for the CRP WLE, and before that she led the global socio-economics unit for animal health at FAO. Her main interest in this job is to use her expertise and experiences in integrating the needs and demands of the end-users (women and smallholders) to help shape the strategic research work on livestock to increase its development impact. Having spent most of her career understanding the underlying dynamics, decisions, and interactions influencing the status quo and how, working with fellow scientists, these can be changed for more equitable development, she is looking forward to working with ILRI’s scientists on this. Nicoline is from the Netherlands.

Ilona Viktoria Gluecks joined ILRI in April 2017 as the Research Facility Manager within the Biosciences directorate. Her responsibilities will include the overall performance of the ILRI and KAPITI animal facilities and leading their transition to becoming fully fit-for-purpose. She is a veterinarian with key expertise in livestock husbandry and production as well as the development of multi-donor multi-sector programmes to support food and nutrition security and livelihoods especially in the arid and semi-arid lands in the Greater Horn of Africa. Ilona is a German citizen but has lived in East Africa since 1999. She holds a PhD in the epidemiology of diseases in camels from the Freie University, Berlin, Germany and her passion and focus lies in the development of the livestock sector in general and the camel sector in particular.

Habibar Rahman joined ILRI as Regional Representative for South Asia beginning April 2017.  Rahman was previously Deputy Director General (Animal Sciences), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.  He has a B.V.Sc. & A.H. from Assam Agricultural University, M.V.Sc. from Punjab Agricultural University and PhD in Microbiology and Public Health from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India. He pursued his post-doctoral training at the Robert Koch Institute, Germany and University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.   Rahman’s career includes senior roles in the ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology & Disease Informatics (NIVEDI), the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Gangtok and Shillong and he was Head of the Division, Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly.  Rahman has over 30 years global research experience covering many aspects of veterinary science, especially the role of animal health for improved productivity. He has a substantial publication record, has supervised many students and received a number of national awards. Habibar is from India.

Yaojing Yue was appointed as Post-Doctoral Fellow – Livestock Genetics in the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) program in April 2017.Yue holds a PhD in Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction Science from Gansu Agriculture University in China, MSc in Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction Science from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and BSc in Biology technology from Shandong Agriculture University, China. Before joining ILRI, he was working as an Associate Professor at Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Yue is from China

Nasser K. Yao has been appointed as Scientist Molecular Plant Breeder at the BecA-ILRI Hub. Yao joined the BecA-ILRI hub as Post-Doctoral Scientist, Plant Molecular Breeder in October 2013. At BecA, Yao’s main responsibility is centered on the utilization of modern breeding tools focusing primarily on high-throughput genotyping applications to support breeders, scientists and breeding programs in Africa. Yao is responsible for the overall molecular breeding efforts at the institute through the molecular breeding platform. Prior to joining BecA-ILRI hub, Yao was the Principal Rice breeder at CNRA, the Ivorian National Centre for Agricultural Research and previously a Research Fellow at Research Associate and Consultant working on the Nested Associated Mapping and the Rice Challenge Initiatives projects at the AfricaRice Center. Yao holds a PhD degree in Genetics and Molecular Plant Breeding from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He also studied Genetics & Plant Breeding in his MSc and BSc at the Félix Houphouet-Boigny University of Abidjan-Cocody, Côte d’Ivoire, his home country.