Jacob Barasa Wanyama has been selected as the new Prolinnova Subregional Coordinator (SRC) in Eastern & Southern Africa (ESA). He took over from Brigid Letty from South Africa on 1 June 2020; Brigid mentored him throughout the month of June. He is coordinating the subregional activities of the Prolinnova Country Platforms (CPs) in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and any future CPs that form themselves in ESA.
Wanyama is a Kenyan veterinarian with extensive experience in ESA, and has been particularly closely associated with pastoralists in Kenya. He was instrumental in developing the ethnoveterinary research and development approach to identifying, adding value to, and promoting local knowledge and innovation in animal healthcare by small-scale livestock keepers and mainstreaming ethnovet medicine within formal veterinary science in Kenya. He speaks English, Portuguese, Kiswahili and several local languages.
Wanyama is a seasoned networker, who has long been the voluntary coordinator of LIFE (Local livestock for empowerment of local people), an action-research and advocacy network that aims to improve the livelihoods of pastoral and smallholder livestock keepers through sustainable use and conservation of their local breeds. He also has experience in managing donor-funded development projects in several countries in ESA. He currently works as a development consultant with a portfolio covering livelihoods, food security, emergency intervention, natural resource management, climate change resilience, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and people-led development.
Our new SRC is no stranger to Prolinnova, having facilitated the introduction of the network in Kenya in 2004 and having made the initial attempts to set up a CP there. He also helped start the CP in Mozambique.
The Prolinnova network welcomes Wanyama as the new SRC for ESA, who will work closely together with the SRC in West & Central Africa.
