Dr. Shachi Gurumayum, Director

Shachi is an experienced manager and sustainability lead with strong roots in emerging markets, expertise in developing agribusiness strategies, hands-on implementation, and driving successful, inclusive, business models. A lifelong learner and intra/entrepreneur, he has multiple degrees in science and business, as well as a patent and extensive publications under his belt. Between Jan 2013 and Dec 2015, Shachi established and managed Syngenta Nigeria Limited making it an integral part of the country’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda and one of Syngenta’s fastest growing subsidiaries. Shachi grew up in a community of smallholder farmers and has nearly two decades of R&D and General Management experience in four continents spanning the chemical industry, Oil & Gas, and agriculture. A scholarship student for most of his academic life, he has also received multiple recognition for his work over the years including ‘Young Person of the UK Chemical Industries Association 2003’, a reception with HRH Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace in 2006, WEF Davos 2014, and the G20 Africa Partnership Conference 2017, to list some. Shachi is also the founder of the MaolKeki Foundation which is building social enterprises based on soil testing, last-mile health and an improved veg value chain. Shachi also advises LadyAgri (Brussels), sits on the Advisory Board of Sahel Consulting (Lagos) and is a member of the Expert Review Committee, Food & Agriculture Benchmark of the World Benchmarking Alliance (Amsterdam).

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Gbenga Isaac Oni

Gbenga is a Development Consultant with over 10 years’ experience around ACCEPT (Agriculture-Community Engagement-Conflict Resolution-Education-Training) across 10 countries. He was the lead for the sorghum value chain research we carried out in Nigeria. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Extension, MA in Conflict Resolution, a Diploma in Business & Entrepreneurship Leadership from Lincoln University, USA, and certificates from Harvard and Virginia.

Orolakin Oluwaseun

Seun has over a decade of experience in agricultural business spanning the seeds and crop protection industry, He led the cowpea value chain research we carried out in Nigeria. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, and an MBA in Marketing, FUNNAB, School of Business at the University of Ibadan.

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Associates

Associates are individual, independent, experts who bring significant knowledge and understanding of the sector making our work more efficient and practical.

Dr. Christof Walter, Associate

Dr Christof Walter runs a specialised consulting firm called Christof Walter Associates for sustainable agriculture and agri-investment advice, working with clients in the branded goods, retail and financial sectors. He has been involved in corporate sustainable sourcing since 2000 and works on all aspects of sustainable agriculture, from muddy boots to the board room. Before founding his own company, he had a career at Unilever where he was instrumental in creating the company’s industry-leading sustainable sourcing and smallholder inclusion programmes. He has since worked in agri-sourcing and agri-finance projects globally, covering a wide range of supply chains and geographies. Christof has a PhD in horticultural sciences and studied agronomy, ecology, economics and climate sciences.

Sean Moolenschot, Associate

Sean’s financial services career spans 21 years, spent in corporate finance, private equity and latterly, in agri-venture development. He has been involved in over 25 private equity deals in South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia, with a value in excess of US$300 million. His focus over the past 8 years has been in African agribusiness, initially across the entire food value chain, and for the past 5 years with a special focus on infrastructure and grain storage assets. Sean is the CIO of the ADAS Africa group, an agribusiness venture development group focused on the development and financing of sovereign grain storage projects in Africa.