Agri Experience is both an old and new company. Old because the direct experience of the company’s group of principals dates back to 1991. New because Agri Experience, Ltd. was founded in 2012.
Since our founding, we have developed a strong reputation for subject matter expertise and perspective. We are known for high quality and experience-based field analysis, recommendations, and implementation support for seed systems development.
We prioritize working with the key local officials and other seed sector stakeholders, and leverage our experience and network of collaborators to bring about meaningful and sustainable systemic change.
Our range of client assignments includes work with donors and other development partners, research organizations, ministry officials, regulators, technology licensing entities, seed sector service providers, policy makers, seed companies, agrodealers, associations, and more.
We are a business, but as a social enterprise we are strongly focused on a triple bottom line:
- Improve smallholder farmer and seed producer productivity (social impact)
- Build local talent in the sector among the permanent stakeholders (capacity development)
- Be financially stable in order to sustain our work (organizational strength)
Team Members
Aline O’Connor
Aline has worked in the crop seed industry in the US and Africa for close to 30 years, including 9 years as the CEO of a large US crop seed company. The founder of Agri Experience, she is highly committed to building and supporting local teams to catalyze growth and opportunity in Africa. Aline is an experienced seed company practitioner, teacher, writer, manager, strategist, and entrepreneur. She has worked on seed systems in Africa since 2007.
Mulemia Maina
Mulemia’s professional life includes close to two decades working in agriculture at the Rockefeller Foundation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Specializing in seed systems, Mulemia has a deep professional network across the continent, and is a knowledgeable researcher, writer, leader and team builder. During her career, she has managed over 350 seed-related grants in sub-Saharan Africa. She is fluent in English, French, and Kiswahili.
Jayne Ngugi
Jayne provides the finance, control, and administration services which underpin the team’s ability to serve clients efficiently and effectively. Jayne also has a strong private sector background and brings a deep level of integrity and professionalism to her role at Agri Experience.
Michael Kibebe
Passionate about farmer access to seed, Mike is a seed production and marketing specialist bringing practical, grounded expertise and observations to our work with clients. With extensive private sector experience in both seed production and sales, and strong sector research capabilities, Mike has deep knowledge of seed quality, economics, marketing and adoption.
Ronald Misigo
Ronald is an emerging seed systems specialist who also leads the development of ICT solutions for our clients, creatively applying unique digital solutions to information and communication needs in the seed sector. He brings strong research and communication skills to our assignments. Ronald has developed an impressive set of seed-focused tools which actively contribute to changes in the sector with seed companies, farmers, associations, and agrodealers.
Hafsa Tikolo
Hafsa manages consulting support at Agri Experience, including logistics, budgeting and field resources. She brings a strong portfolio of experience to her role, including private sector, government, and international NGO expertise.
Denis Langat
Denis is a young and dynamic project monitoring specialist who supports client related activities with a focus on general research, documentation, record keeping, project monitoring, data collection and analysis.
Supporting Consultants
Depending upon the assignment and geography, we have a strong network of vetted independent consultants with whom we partner for specific assignments. These experts support us in areas such as national government liaison, technical advisory work, local costing and estimates, marketing and distribution, and local implementation. Our long-standing relationships with the most experienced seed system experts in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa contributes deeply to our ability to deliver successful results to our clients.
Valued Support Team
Fulgence Apondi
Sammy Mwololo
Nicholas Kilonzo
