Visitors in July

The British High Commissioner to Kenya, Nic Hailey, signs the ILRI visitor’s book.

Shaukat Abdulrazak from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited ILRI on 2 July. Abdulrazak is director for Africa in the Department of Technical Cooperation. The Department provides technical cooperation support to 45 countries in Africa, including national and regional projects in such fields as food and agriculture; health and nutrition; nuclear knowledge development and management; safety; water and the environment; energy and industrial applications and radiation technology. He was particularly interested in how the BeCA-ILRI Hub could support some of the IAEA activities.

Simon Winter, CEO of the Syngenta Foundation, and George Osure, regional director for East Africa, visited us on 13 July. The Syngenta Foundation has been a strong supporter of the BecA-ILRI Hub for many years. They were particularly interested in the development of the hub’s new business plan and how the foundation can support it.

The British High Commissioner to Kenya, H.E. Nic Hailey, and some of his staff paid a brief visit to ILRI on Tuesday 31 July. Although brief, the visit helped put ILRI ‘on the map’ with the High Commissioner and he was very grateful for the time we spent with him and impressed with what he saw and heard. He emphasized that the UK wants to invest in supporting the Government of Kenya’s Big Four Agenda, including agriculture and food security so the visit was timely.

Relocation of Abdrahmane Wane to West Africa

Abdrahmane Wane, a joint French agricultural research and international cooperation organization (CIRAD)-ILRI appointee who has spent the past three years in Nairobi, has relocated to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He remains on a joint appointment and his relocation will strengthen our program in West Africa. We are also exploring how his move to Abidjan can help build stronger links to the African Development Bank and its growing portfolio of livestock projects and other organizations in the region.

Till next month.

Iain