Our mission-driven team blends scientific rigour and community roots to deliver practical, frugal solutions for farmers and resilient agricultural systems.
FIPS Africa’s team brings together skilled, mission-driven professionals rooted in communities and technical expertise. FIPS combines scientific knowledge with hands-on experience, supporting farmers, youth, and market actors through practical, frugal solutions.
FIPS invests in continuous learning and a diverse, inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Most of our staff come from smallholder farming families. We strive towards Coach-Like Leadership, embracing confident vulnerability, purposeful contribution, and appreciative curiosity
Guided by innovation, accountability, and partnership, our team works with collaborators to drive transformation at both farm and system levels, helping Small Farms build Big Futures. The work of FIPS is overseen by a Board of Directors that helps deliver excellence in its endeavours and ensures the organisation has the resources in place to thrive.
Dr David Priest is the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technical Officer, and a Board Member of FIPS Africa. He is a Kenyan Permanent Resident. He provides strategic leadership across the organisation, guiding delivery, partnerships, and institutional growth. Dave combines executive management with board-level governance, ensuring FIPS remains mission-driven, accountable, and focused on scaling practical, farmer-centred solutions that strengthen livelihoods and food systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. He has a passion for enabling learning, supporting teams to draw out lessons, and deploying them to catalyse impact through FIPS and its partners.
Florah Kirira is the Chief Programmes Officer at FIPS Africa, where she leads the strategic design and delivery of programmes that support smallholder farmers to improve productivity, resilience, and livelihoods. Having grown up on a small farm on the slopes of Mount Kenya, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to advancing farmer-centered agricultural development. Florah works closely with teams, partners, and governments to translate research, innovation, and market opportunities into practical solutions that farmers can adopt. She is particularly passionate about empowering rural women and strengthening inclusive agricultural systems that enable smallholder farmers and their communities to thrive.
CPA Jeremiah Langat is the Finance and Administration Manager at FIPS Africa, where he leads the organisation’s finance and operations functions. He is responsible for strengthening systems, enhancing internal controls, and ensuring compliance to support overall organisational health and efficiency. He also provides strategic financial insights that inform effective decision-making and long-term planning. Jeremiah is passionate about building robust systems that drives operational excellence to enable sustainable organizational growth and impact.
Rosemary Mbuthia is the Human Resources Manager at FIPS Africa. She leads the development and implementation of people and culture strategies that support the organisation’s growth and operational effectiveness. In her role, Rosemary oversees HR systems, tools, and policies, and supports recruitment, staff development, and performance management processes to ensure teams are well supported and aligned with organisational goals. Her work focuses on building strong teams and fostering a positive workplace culture that enables staff to deliver impactful programmes that strengthen farmer livelihoods and food systems. She is passionate about people development, organisational learning, and creating practical systems that empower teams to perform at their best and contribute to meaningful development impact.
Jennifer Wanjiku is the Learning and Partnership Manager at FIPS Africa. She leads the organisation’s learning, partnership development, and fundraising functions, working across internal teams and external partners to build relationships that extend FIPS Africa’s reach and deepen its impact. She is committed to ensuring that learning and evidence generated through FIPS’s work is documented, shared, and used to inform strategy and scale what works for farmers. She cares about collaborative learning and building the kind of purposeful partnerships that crowd in resources and shared commitment to support farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa. She brings a practical, farmer-centered lens to her work, always asking how partnerships and research translate into real, tangible benefits for the communities FIPS serves.
Koech Cheruiyot Denis is a Communications Manager at FIPS Africa. He leads organisational branding, storytelling, knowledge management, and strategic visibility to strengthen organisational positioning, influence key stakeholders, and support systems-level change aligned to FIPS’s growth strategy. He shapes the organisation’s narrative, strengthens thought leadership, and ensures programme evidence translates into compelling, on-brand content that supports partnerships, influencing, and resource mobilisation. He is passionate about ethical storytelling, ensuring that farmer voices are represented with dignity, accuracy, and impact.
Vincent Kubati Oyondi is the Senior Programmes Coordinator for Western Kenya at FIPS Africa. He has served in various capacities within the organisation, gaining extensive practical, coordination, and managerial experience. This has equipped him with the skills necessary to effectively guide the Western region team in delivering well-designed agricultural interventions across soil health management, crop production, livestock systems, and enterprise development, ultimately enabling farmers to improve productivity, income, and resilience. Beyond supporting farmers to thrive, Vincent is actively involved in cultivating and nurturing strategic partnerships that enhance FIPS’s ability to implement its mandate effectively. His work emphasises collaboration, innovation, and sustainable impact within the agricultural sector. He is passionate about helping farmers adopt practical solutions, improve their livelihoods, and thrive, bringing FIPS Africa’s Small Farms, Big Futures vision to life in every community he serves.
James Ngugi is the Potato Project lead at FIPS Africa with over 10 years of experience working in the potato sector. In his role, he leads the design and implementation of potato projects, supports farmer training, and works with private market actors to strengthen seed systems and improve farmer productivity. James is certified by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) as a seed multiplier and brings strong technical expertise in quality seed production and farmer capacity building. His work contributes to FIPS’ mission by helping farmers access quality planting material and improved practices that increase potato yields and farmer incomes, often doubling productivity and profitability. James is passionate about practical, field-based solutions that connect farmers with sustainable markets and strengthen the potato value chain.
Paulyene Masanja is the Senior Youth and Enterprise Coordinator at FIPS Africa. She leads the design, implementation, and scaling of youth enterprise initiatives at FIPS. Her work focuses on developing sustainable youth-led agribusiness models, supporting young entrepreneurs to build viable enterprises, and strengthening program strategies that improve youth participation in agricultural value chains. Paulyene’s work contributes to FIPS’ mission by strengthening farmer livelihoods and food systems through youth-driven enterprises. By helping young people build profitable agricultural businesses, she supports income generation, improves access to quality farm inputs and services, and strengthens local agricultural ecosystems. Paulyene is passionate about youth economic empowerment and building practical, market-driven agribusiness models that enable young people to create sustainable livelihoods while supporting smallholder farmers.
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.
Dr David Priest is the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technical Officer, and a Board Member of FIPS Africa. He is a Kenyan Permanent Resident. He provides strategic leadership across the organisation, guiding delivery, partnerships, and institutional growth. Dave combines executive management with board-level governance, ensuring FIPS remains mission-driven, accountable, and focused on scaling practical, farmer-centred solutions that strengthen livelihoods and food systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. He has a passion for enabling learning, supporting teams to draw out lessons, and deploying them to catalyse impact through FIPS and its partners.
Prof. Ed Rege is a Board Member of FIPS Africa, bringing extensive experience in agricultural research, livestock systems, and organisational leadership. Rege, a Kenyan citizen, supports FIPS’ strategic direction and governance while strengthening partnerships that advance farmer-centred solutions across food systems. He previously held senior leadership positions at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), including global director of the livestock biotechnology programme, covering livestock genetics, health, and nutrition. He is the founder and CEO of Emerge Centre for Innovative Africa (ECI-Africa), where he supports organisations to strengthen strategy, leadership, and institutional performance. With over four decades of teaching, research, and agricultural development experience, and more than 250 scientific publications. At FIPS, he brings strong multi-stakeholder engagement skills and systems thinking that help teams and partners co-create solutions and draw out diverse perspectives. He is passionate about organisational leadership and building the capacity of institutions to innovate, adapt, and deliver lasting impact for farmers.
Janey Leakey is a Board Member of FIPS Africa with extensive experience in agribusiness, seed systems, and community-based enterprise. She is the founding director of Leldet Seed Company Ltd., which focuses on developing and supplying seed for crops suited to Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. Janey, a Kenyan citizen, also manages mixed arable and livestock farming through Chemeron Ltd., promoting sustainable farming practices that maximise local resources while protecting the environment. At FIPS, she brings practical market insight and a strong commitment to ethical practice and safeguarding. She is passionate about seeds and technologies that empower smallholder farmers, particularly women and communities in marginal areas, to improve productivity and build sustainable livelihoods.
David Mwangi Njuru is a Board Member of FIPS Africa and a Kenyan agronomist with expertise in soil health, seed systems, and smallholder farming systems. He brings academic and research leadership that helps ensure FIPS’ work remains evidence-based and responsive to farmers’ realities. Throughout his career, he has worked with farmers, researchers, and development partners to strengthen agricultural productivity and resilience through improved soil management and practical innovation. At FIPS, he promotes collaborative research and learning that connects science with farmer experimentation and local knowledge. He is passionate about translating research into practical solutions that farmers can test, adapt, and scale to improve livelihoods and strengthen resilient food systems.
Join a mission-driven team dedicated to bridging the gap between research and reality. Let’s leverage our shared expertise to create inclusive, market-linked growth across the continent.