SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS

Rashid Sumaila is a Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia. His research focuses on bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, marine protected areas, illegal fishing, climate change, marine plastic pollution, and oil spills. Sumaila has experience working in fisheries and natural resource projects in Norway, Canada and the North Atlantic region, Namibia and the Southern African region, Ghana and the West African region and Hong Kong and the South China Sea. Dr. Sumaila received his Ph.D. (Economics) from the University of Bergen and his B.Sc. (Quantity Surveying) from the Ahmadu Bello University. Sumaila is widely published and cited. He won the 2017 Volvo Environment Prize and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019. His interest in the environment started early in life when his grandfather used to say people should “walk as if the ground feels pain” – this is sophisticated environmentalism! His specific interest in ocean and fisheries was picked in Norway. Sumaila enjoys exploring novel ideas and mentoring future thinkers. He loves waking up each day thinking of how best to contribute to ensuring that we bequeath a healthy ocean to our children and grandchildren so they too can have the option to do the same.

Sumaila’s research involve: (i) applying game theory to fisheries, to, for example, identify whether or not developing countries should give access to their fisheries resources to foreign fleets; (ii) rethinking the nature of the discount rates applied to natural resource projects, and formulating a highly original alternative (“intergeneration discount rates”); (iii) understanding the nature, amounts and effects of government subsidies on global fisheries; (iv) documenting the employment in fisheries and competing uses of living marine resources; and, (v) estimating the multiple benefits that would be obtained globally by rebuilding fish stocks and setting up marine reserves, including the concept of the ‘High Seas’ as a large marine reserve or a ‘fish bank’ for the world.

Website: https://oceans.ubc.ca/rashid-sumaila/

Elizabeth Robinson is an environmental economist with over twenty five years’ experience undertaking research in lower-income countries, including six while living in Tanzania and Ghana. Her research addresses the design of policies and institutions to reduce climate change emissions, protect the environment, and improve the livelihoods of resource-dependent communities. Her recent focus includes climate change and systemic risk; and tracking the co-benefits of climate change mitigation and health, oriented particularly around food security and food systems. Elizabeth has a first-class degree in Engineering, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford; and a PhD in Applied Economics from Stanford University. Before joining the University of Reading she has variously worked at the Boston Consulting Group, the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, Natural Resources Institute, and as a tutorial fellow in economics at the University of Oxford. She has over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Elizabeth has always been interested in policy-oriented research. From 2004-09 she was coordinating lead author for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, sub-Saharan Africa; and a Member of the global and sub-Saharan Africa design teams. She was on the UK Defra Economic Advisory Panel for five years; and in 2019-20, Specialist Advisor to the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health, and Environment. She is a regular contributor to local and national radio; frequently quoted in national newspapers such as The Guardian and The Financial Times; and has appeared on various TV channels including Al Jazeera’s Inside Story, the BBC News at Ten, and BBC World News. Elizabeth has been working closely with colleagues at Environment for Development Tanzania since 2004, and was privileged to be hosted by EfD China at Peking University for her sabbatical in 2015. In September 2021 Elizabeth will be joining the London School of Economics as the Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Website: http://www.reading.ac.uk/apd/staff/e-j-robinson.aspx

Senior Independent Researcher and Consultant,

Formerly (2019-2020) Senior Strategic Advisor and Sub-Regional Director, The Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa, Kigali, Rwanda.

Former Director, United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), Accra, Ghana.

Elias T. Ayuk served as Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) based in Accra, Ghana (October 2010 – October 2018).  He holds a B. A in Economics with college honours from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, an M. Sc and PhD in Agricultural Economics both from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. On completion of his PhD in 1989 he served for two years (1990 -1991) at the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC)-Africa office based in Lomé, Togo as a Visiting Scientist under the Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Fellowship program. He has worked for the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), now known as the World Agroforestry Centre (1992 -2002), as a Senior Regional Policy Economist. In 2002 he joined the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) as a Senior Programme Specialist at its West and Central Africa Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal until October 2010.

His research interests focus on poverty analysis, institutional capacity building and the social, economic and policy dimensions of natural resource management. Ayuk has edited/co-edited six books: The Policy Paradox in Africa: Strengthening the Links between Economic Research and Policymaking; Wealth through Integration: Regional Integration and Poverty Reduction Strategies in West Africa; La Microfinance en Afrique centrale: Le Défi des Exclus; Réglementation et Supervision des Institutions de Microfinance en Afrique centrale; Promoting green economy: implications for natural resources development, food security and poverty reduction in Africa; and New Frontiers in Natural Resources Management in Africa. He has also published extensively in internationally refereed journals. He is on the editorial boards of the journals Nutrient Cycling in Agro-ecosystems (1998-present) and Sustainability Science (2012 -2016). He also serves on the Social Science Advisory Committee of the International Foundation for Science (Sweden) and is a member of the International Resource Panel (IRP) of the United Nations Environment (UNEP). He is a co-lead author of the IRP Report ‘Mineral Resource Governance in the 21^st Century: Gearing extractive industries towards sustainable development’.

Prof. Suresh Babu is Head, Capacity Strengthening, International Food Policy Research Institute (www.IFPRI.org) & Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is an international agricultural and resource economist conducting policy research, capacity development, and policy advisory activities for more than 30 years in the Sub Saharan Africa  and other developing regions. He joined IFPRI in 1992 and has served in several positions including the Coordinator of IFPRI’s Southern Africa Food Security Program. As a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI, Dr. Babu is guiding IFPRI’s regional and country programs in their capacity development activities. In this leadership position, he has conducted many national dialogues leading to the development of national food security and agricultural policies of several developing countries in Africa including, Malawi, Ghana, and Nigeria. Dr. Babu has trained several senior policy researchers and policy makers in Sub Saharan African countries who are currently in leading policy making positions, directly influencing and shaping food and agricultural policies. He received his MS and PhD in Economics at Iowa State University, USA

Dr. Ifeoma Quinette Anugwa is a lecturer/researcher in the Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Nigeria where she obtained PhD in Agricultural Communication. She has over ten years of interdisciplinary research experience and particular interest in the fields of agriculture and rural development. Her research interests include food and nutrition security, health, resilience, agricultural policies, climate change, rural livelihoods, information and communication technology, gender studies, agricultural innovation and poverty. She is a Fellow of the prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agricultural Program (LEAP), USA. These experiences also include the most appropriate approaches in the design, transfer, evaluation and support of agricultural innovations. She is also a member of the several international and national professional bodies.

Dr. Bandiougou Dembele is an agricultural economist and currently work as a researcher at the Institute of Rural Economics, Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali. He has a PhD degree in Agricultural Economics from Egerton University, Kenya. His research focusses on various aspects of agricultural production system in Southern Mali and these include income, crop diversification strategies, agricultural technologies practices and socio-economic and research projects management. My current research focuses on understanding the agroecological intensification with specific focus on climate change adaptation.

Dr. Joseph Tinarwo is a  Director at the Food and Nutrition Security Research Institute in Zimbabwe. He  completed a PhD in Public Management and Governance with University of Johannesburg in South Africa and has more than 10 years of demonstrated research experience in food systems, food and nutrition security policy, policy analysis as well as managing special studies. Joseph is also the coordinator and lecturer of Public Management and Governance at Great Zimbabwe University in Zimbabwe and has consulted for several organizations including government and department partners. Joseph has also published several peer reviewed journal papers and books.

I am a Kenyan male citizen. I hold a PhD in Environmental Education from Rhodes University, South Africa (2004); Masters of Science in Strategic Leadership (California Miramar University), Masters of Environmental Science (Kenyatta University) and a Bachelor of Education (Science – Kenyatta University). I also hold 2 Post Graduate Diplomas in Pedagogy of Online Learning and on E-Course development and Online Course Leadership from Global Virtual University, UNEP and HSH-Norway. I have worked in several institutions such as secondary school teacher for Biology and Geography (3 years), Education officer at the National Museums of Kenya (7 years); Environmental Sciences Lecturer at Kenyatta University (3 years); Director, Environmental Education, Information and Public Participation at the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in Kenya (10 years).

Dr Salisu Mohammed Dahiru is the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) – A World Bank-Assisted Project under the Federal Ministry of Environment. Born 15th of February 1962, in Keffi Nasarawa State of Nigeria, Dr Dahiru began his formal education at the Ahmadu Maikwato Primary School, Keffi in 1968 and subsequently moved to the Federal Government College, Ilorin in 1974. He obtained his West African School Certificate in 1979. He proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Kaduna State from 1980 to 1984, where he earned his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Botany (1984). Dahiru has an MSc Degree in Cytogenetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Jos, Plateau State In 1993, and in 2019, bagged his PhD in Environmental Resources Management from the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

Dr Dahiru began his carrier in 1985 at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi where he was a Lecturer. In 1992, he transferred to the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as Principal Forestry Officer and later as Chief Forestry Officer responsible for Forest Resources Management and Administration, and the Coordination of Nigeria’s Accelerated Industrial Crops Production Programme. In 1998 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation where he was responsible for the Development and Management of the Abuja Parks.

He joined the Federal Ministry of Environment as an Assistant Director Forestry, in 2006. At the Ministry, he served as the Desk Officer, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) where he represented Nigeria at various CBD international fora. From 2012 to 2013, he served as Special Assistant to the Honorable Minister of Environment; and also, as a Board Member of the Nigeria Agricultural Research Council and National Parks Service Representing the Federal Ministry of Environment from 2013 to 2015.

Between 2010 and 2015, he was, in addition to his other duties, appointed the National Coordinator, Reducing Emission for Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), a United Nations Programme for Climate Change mitigation. In this capacity, he was the Team Lead and was responsible for Mainstreaming of REDD+ into the country’s National Development Agendas; and enhancing synergies with the Ministry’s Great Green Wall Programme (GGW) and the National Afforestation Programme (NAP). He was also the Lead Negotiator for Nigeria on REDD+ under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In 2013 while still coordinating the REDD+ programme, he was elevated to the rank of Director of Forestry and Head, Federal Department of Forestry; responsible for the general administration and coordination of forestry activities across the country.

In May 2015, given his strong commitment to national assignment over the years, Dr Salisu Dahiru was appointed the National Project Coordinator of the World Bank-funded Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project. In this capacity, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the implementation of Erosion Control Projects in the 23 NEWMAP Participating States across Nigeria.

A seasoned Administrator; Botanist/Forester, Environmental Resources Management and Sustainable Development Specialist, Dahiru is also a Climate Change Expert and Project Management Specialist. He has attended various courses on Project Management; Environmental Sustainability and Governance; World Bank Guidelines on Public Procurement; including Harvard Executive Course on Climate Change. He is a member of various Professional Bodies, some of which include Nigerian Environmental Society (NES); Fellow, Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN); Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).

Dr Dahiru is a recipient of several awards and recognitions including Leadership Distinction Award by Nigeria Organization for Youth Advancement (2015); Special Recognition for Contributions to the Development of Nasarawa State by Nasarawa State Governor (2016) and the “Environment Support and Protection Award” by the Environment Outreach Magazine (2016) among others. He has presented various speeches and delivered several lectures in his chosen field of environmental protection and sustainable development locally and internationally over the years. His hobbies include reading, photography, nature conservation and community service. He is happily married with children. https://newmap.gov.ng/index.php/npc/#