Speakers and Discussant Background Information

Main Speaker: Dr. Michael Abu Sakara Foster

Mike Foster was born in Damango (1958), a small provincial town in Northern Ghana. His father was a teacher and his mother a businesswoman who traded in food stuffs. His love for agriculture developed at an early age when he spent holiday periods with an uncle who was a peasant farmer. Michael learnt from his cousins how to trap fish, squirrels and ate anything that moved.

Michael grew up in Ghana until he was twelve, then he went to England where he continued with his education under the benevolent tutelage of his father's lifelong missionary friends. Michael studied agronomy and he holds degrees in Applied plant Botany (Ph.D. Reading), Applied Plant Sciences (MSc, London Wye College) and Soil Science (BSc. Reading).

His career in Agriculture began with a one-year scholarship to IITA in Nigeria in 1980. He has since worked for Britain's Overseas Development Administration (DFID) in Mexico at the Centre for International Maize and Wheat Improvement and Sasakawa Africa Association. For the past fifteen years he has worked as an agronomist and later as program director of technology innovation and dissemination programs in Zambia, Tanzania and now Uganda.

Michael feels fortunate for the opportunity to travel extensively in connection with Agriculture and Development. He is grateful for the first hand experience first of the frustrations and triumphs associated with development of subsistence agriculture and improvement of farmers welfare. He is still challenged by this great unfinished task and hopes to learn from the rich experiences of the participants at this meeting.

Michael's profile is only complete with his wife Lily an Economist and Business Administrator. They have been married for 19 years and have four children aged (18,16, 12 and 11). They have a home in Ghana and often spend time in United Kingdom (their second home) with relatives and friends.

Michael owns and co-runs a small farm with his life long friend and older brother Asumah. He dreams one day of to retiring to his farm where he can reflect some more on Africa's agriculture.

In the mean time he feels it is a privilege and honour to work shoulder to shoulder with you in the search for answers to food security problems and how to feed the poor and hungry.

Discussant on Population and Development Issues: Prof. John Oucho

John O. Oucho holds a Ph.D. degree in geography (with specialisation in Population Studies) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He is an accomplished scholar with exemplary commitment to Africa, which he has served in several capacities.

For several years now, he has been Professor of Population Studies and, in 1996-June 2001, Professor and Program Coordinator of Population and Sustainable Development at the International Training Programme in Population and Sustainable development. He has taught population studies at the universities of Nairobi, Ghana (as UN Demographer-Instructor at the UN Regional Institute for Population Studies) and Botswana from 1979 to now. He is a world authority in migration and development, an expert in population, environment and development and a specialist in population and development interrelations.

Prof. Oucho has authored many authoritative works, including 7 books, numerous journal articles, book chapters, book reviews and 812 conference papers. One of his works that is most crucial for the CSD-2 is a monograph on Population Factor in land Degradation in Africa (1998), which the African development bank commissioned him to write. He also participated in the preparation of the UNECA publication Policy Nexus Issues of Food Security and Environment in Southern Africa.

In 1987-1991, he was a pioneer Secretary General of the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS) based in Dakar, Senegal; in 1986, he helped found the Population Association of Kenya, for which he was Secretary in 1986-1999 and has been the patron of since January 2000. He is a member of eight national and international professional bodies the latest being nominated a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and science, which is a body of eminent scholars, policy and decision makers and entrepreneurs worldwide. He sits on the Academic Advisory Board of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA). He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the International Journal of Population Geography and the African Population Studies, as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the Tanzania Journal of Population and Development and the African Journal of Fertility, Sexuality and Reproductive Health.

Prof. Oucho has undertaken many consultancy services for various United Nations agencies (UNECA, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, UNCHS) and similar global bodies such as the World health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank and its African brainchild, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). He is an eloquent speaker, a great presenter of his works and an amiable person who enjoys life in more than academic ways, but a critical thinker who does not have room for poorly executed work. His research areas include his areas of specialisation and population and conflict in Africa, a neglected research area for which he looks forward to leading a team of African researchers given the interplay of the two on the African scene. Prof. Oucho's service to Africa is exemplary, a sign of patriotism in a continent whose the likes of him have been victims of brain drain.

Discussant on Science and Technology Issues: Prof. C.J. Chetsanga

Professor Chetsanga got his training in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in which he got his Ph.D. degree in 1969 at the University of Toronto. In the same year he became a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, focusing on the regulation of RNA synthesis.

In 1972 he joined the University of Michigan as an Assistant professor. He worked his way up till he became a Full Professor in 1989. His research focused more on the interaction of chemical carcinogens with DNA. He discovered two enzymes that repair DNA, which has been damaged by cancer causing chemicals. In 1981, he also incorporated the cloning of genes into DNA as part of the research methodologies in his research group.

After Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, he returned home in 1983 to join the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Zimbabwe. In 1985, he became Chairman of Biochemistry. His research work focused on biotechnology and DNA sequence analysis in hepatitis B virus. He was instrumental in organising the M.Sc. Degree in Biotechnology at the University of Zimbabwe. He rose in the administrative ranks to become Dean of Faculty of Science after which he became Pro Vice Chancellor and finally Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe in 1992.

In 1993 he was appointed by Government to become the inaugural Director General of the Scientific & Industrial Research & Development Centre (SIRDC), a centre of excellence in science and technology (S & T). SIRDC has seven research institutes, each one headed by a Director. The research programmes at SIRDC cover biotechnology, engineering, computer science, electronics, energy, building, environment and remote sensing aimed at promoting industrialisation.

In Zimbabwe he has worked hard to promote the development of a scientific culture. He served as the Chairman of the Research Council of Zimbabwe, a body that advises government on scientific matters. He has appeared before parliamentary committees to promote the funding of science.

He serves on a number of boards and committees locally and internationally. He has won a number of scientific awards at the international level. He serves on editorial boards of journals and is a scientist frequently invited locally and overseas to speak on issues in African S & T, especially developments in biotechnology.

Discussant on Food Science and Nutrition Issues: Dr. Ruth K. Oniang'o

Dr. Ruth K. Oniang'o is a full professor of Food Science and Nutrition at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Her academic life spans over 20 years during which time she has produced hundreds of undergraduates and scores of both masters and Ph.D. graduates in her field. She received her first and second degrees from Washington State University in the USA and Ph.D. from University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Her research and consultation areas have included household food and nutrition security, women's nutrition, child health and community-level agro-processing in which she has published widely. She has consulted widely and serves on a number of international, regional and national boards.

She is currently executive director of Rural Outreach Program, an NGO she founded about a decade ago as a way of bringing university close to the people. The activities of the NGO are used as training ground for university students while Prof. Oniang'o enriches her own field experiences that enhance her teaching and interactions with the students. Through the NGO, she mobilises resources to enhance rural livelihoods, particularly in her community of birth.

Prof. Oniang'o is Editor-in-Chief of a newly launched peer reviewed professional journal: African Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences which will be produced every two months and appears on its own website in full in both English and French. The website is www.ajfns.net

Discussant on Environment and Natural Resources Issues: Prof. Adeniyi Osuntogun,

Professor Adeniyi Osuntogun had his Doctorate Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Leeds, U.K. in Sept. 1971. He was a member of Staff of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he lectured in Agricultural Economics from 1972 to 1991. He became Professor in October 1980 and was Head of Agricultural Economics Department, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, the last position was held up till September 1991.

He was Chairman National Advisory Council for Cooperative Development; Member, Board of Directors, Nigeria Agricultural and Cooperative Bank and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Internet Group. He also served as the National Programme Director, Leadership for Environment and Development - a capacity building initiative that was initiated by the Rockefeller Foundation.

He has served as Consultant to the World Bank, FAO, AFRACA, Winrock Foundation etc. In the last ten years, Professor Osuntogun has focussed on research and capacity building on Environment and Sustainable Development. He has carried out research and training on Environment and Sustainable Development in the following countries: Thailand, Costa Rica, CIS, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Cuba, Canada, USA, Nigeria, Brazil, China, Japan-Okinawa, etc.

He is listed in Who is Who in the World.

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