Dr Fidelis Nyambe Mwazi officially took over the reins of the NAB from the 1st of August 2018. He is a professional scientist in crop science and sustainable agriculture with more than 18 years working experience in plant propagation, academic and research environment, agronomic and horticulture, project management and community services.
Dr Mwazi holds a PhD Degree in Agriculture (Crop Science) from the University of Namibia, his research topic was on: Optimizing non-flooded landscape units to support maize production, Zambezi Region. The overall objective was to use maize as a case study crop to assess possible ways that may optimize the non-flooded landscape units to support arable production in the Zambezi Region.
Dr Mwazi also holds an MSc. degree in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation: (Sustainable Agriculture), obtained at ITC – Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, now University of Twente in the Netherlands (2006), His research topic was on: spatial analysis of land suitability to support alternative land uses at Excelsior Resettlement project in Oshikoto region.
Prior to his appointment as NAB’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mwazi worked as a Senior Manager for Standards and Trade at Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) from February 2015 to June 2018. He was mandated to implement statutory rules and regulations of the Agronomic Industry Act, Act 20 of 1992 for compliance by producers and traders involved in production and trading of the agronomic and horticultural products country-wide. The implementation of these rules and regulations in terms of compliance by the industry, as enshrined in the Act, was delegated to AMTA by the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) in August 2014 after the appointment of AMTA as an Agent of the Board (NAB). Thus, he implemented various compliance programmes for agronomy and horticulture market share promotion, food safety and crop specific marketing standards, inspections of farms and facilities for compliances to Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) and Hazardous Analytical Critical Control Point (HACCP), border control and inland inspectorate as well as quality management aspects.
He also worked as a National Horticulture Manager at the Namibian Agronomic Board from May 2013 to January 2015 responsible to implement the Horticulture Market Share Promotion for controlled crops. In addition, he also worked as a: UNDP/MET Technical Advisor, for Africa Adaptation Project in Namibia from September 2010 – December 2012. The project focused on Building a foundation for a national approach to climate change adaptation (CCA) in Namibia” aimed to strategically enhance the capacity of Namibians to respond to and be prepared for climate change. Additionally, he directed the process for the development of the National Policy on CC and its implementation strategy and Action Plan and also the supervision for the implementation of various CC technical studies and peer reviewed the reports.
Other Job appointments he occupied include, Researcher, Coastal Agriculture & Plant Biodiversity at SANUMARC, Henties Bay, University of Namibia (UNAM) as well as Lecturer for courses such as Horticulture, Agronomy, Basic Plant Production, & Soil Science at Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Nursery Superintendent at Development Brigade Cooperation (DBC).
Dr Mwazi also served on the committee of the Indigenous Plant Task Team (IPTT) of the Ministry of Agriculture Water & Forestry, representing the NUST and its objective is to promote the sustainable utilization of Namibia’s indigenous plant resources. He also served as a board member for Team Namibia during June 2013 to June 2016, aimed to promote buy local company of Namibian manufactured and produced products.
His diverse training, academic experience in the horticulture and agronomy industry, scientific and research knowledge, leadership and analytical skills, practical working knowledge of crop production and trading systems in Namibia are indeed essential assets in running the NAB.
Lesley Laurens Losper was appointed as the GM: Regulations at the NAB in January 2020. He previously held the position of National Horticulture Manager since joining the NAB in June 2017. Lesley has an extensive academic knowledge and industry experience of having worked in the agriculture, education and environment sectors in Namibia.
He holds a BSc Agriculture degree from the University of Namibia, a Bachelor of Philosophy in Sustainable Development Management from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a BSc Honours degree in Technology and Innovation Management from the University of Pretoria.
He has held staff positions at Meat Board of Namibia (Meat Classifier, 2001 -2002); Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (Agricultural Economist, 2002 – 2005); Ministry of Education (Science and Technology Officer, 2005 – 2007); and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (Principal Conservation Scientist & Head of Subdivision, 2007 – 2016). His career interest encompasses information management, communication, education and public awareness. Being a horticulture producer himself, Lesley brings with him a profound knowledge of Namibia’s horticultural sector.
Barbara Snyders-Bock was appointed as a GM for Finance, Admin and HR in February 2020. Prior to that she served as a Financial Manager at the NAB for 19 years’ and was also responsible for Human Resources and Information Technology.
Barbara holds a Bcom degree in Management Accounting. Her strategic approach is the development of structures and systems compliance.
Mr Gilbert Mate Mulonda is the General Manager: Agronomy and Horticulture Market Development, and he joined the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) team on 01 January 2020.
Mulonda holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Marketing Management, a Bachelor of Agricultural Management Honours, and a Bachelor of Technology in Agricultural Management, as well as a National Diploma in Natural Resource Management (Agriculture). He is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Agribusiness Management, which is to be completed in 2020.
Furthermore, Mulonda brings along a rich 12 years of proven progressive work experience predominately in the agronomy, horticulture and livestock industry, of which 8 years were at management level in various capacities and organizations, leading the operations, including providing overall strategic direction and technical backing to the team. He has also undergone various work-related trainings in strategic management, total quality management system, trade facilitation, marketing, and product quality, as well as food safety standards.
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Antoinette Pritzen joined the NAB in May 1994 as secretary of the Board and Grain Administrator. In 2003 Antoinette became the Administrative Manager and secretary of the Board, also overseeing the white maize and wheat division.
Still servicing the Board administration, Antoinette became the Manager for White maize and Wheat in 2014. Antoinette holds a Bachelor in Arts degree from the University of Johannesburg and an Honours degree in Political Science from the University of Pretoria.
