Dr Paul Douglas Seward is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of FIPS Africa and the originator of the Village-Based Advisor (VBA) model. An agronomist and soil scientist, he has spent more than 30 years working alongside smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa to develop practical, scalable solutions that strengthen productivity and resilience. He has held leadership roles with the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme (TSBF) and AGRA, where he helped institutionalise the VBA model within the organisation’s programming. He also pioneered innovations in soil fertility and input systems, including designing one of the first fertiliser blends produced in Africa, Mavuno. At FIPS, he leads work on soil health innovations, including the development of WonderGro soil conditioner. He is passionate about enabling smallholder farmers to learn by doing, using affordable technologies and low-risk trial packs that allow farmers to experiment, adapt, and scale solutions that work in their own farming systems.
