Advancing Food Processing in Africa - joint scientific roundtable by AAU and IUFoST invited speakers biographies

Distinguished Speakers

Olusola Oyewole is the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), with Headquarters in Accra, Ghana. He is a Professor of Food Science and Technology (Food Microbiology and Biotechnology). He was the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, from May 2012 to May 2017. Professor Olusola Oyewole has over 36 six years of experience working in the African higher education space and has over 100 scholarly publications to his credit. He previously served as a Senior Expert (Quality Assurance, Mobility and Scholarships) at the Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology of the African Union Commission in Ethiopia, Addis- Ababa, from 2009 to 2010.

Prior to joining the African Union Commission, Prof. Oyewole was the Coordinator of the British Government’s sponsored project on the “Mobilization of Regional Initiatives for the revitalization of higher education in Africa”, at the Association of African Universities (AAU), Accra, Ghana, from 2007 to 2009. His assignment involved the promotion and management of African continental research networking and research programs for development. He once served as the Project Officer of a World Bank project on “Quality Assurance for African Higher Education systems” at the Association of African Universities (2006 – 2009).

Prof. Olusola Oyewole has worked in national, regional and continental organizations and has experience in coordinating multinational research and development programmes. He has track records and experience in International and Inter-Governmental Relations, Advocacy and Lobbying for Research and Research Funding. Over the course of his career, Prof. Oyewole developed strong interest and substantial expertise in various aspects of higher education including Leadership, Quality Assurance, Internationalization, Harmonization, Accreditation and the African Credit Systems. He is currently the sub-cluster coordinator of the African Union Commission’s Continental Education Strategy for Education in Africa (CESA) on Research and Graduate Studies.

At the African Union, Prof. Olusola Oyewole was charged with the Coordination of the Mwalimu Nyerere Scheme, which featured various programmes including the African Quality Rating Mechanisms (AQRM) scheme, the Mwalimu Nyerere Scholarship program, and the African – EU-ACP Mobility scheme. He is currently a member of the Advisory Group of the OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development, and the Tuning Africa Quality Assurance programme.

Samuel Godefroy, President of IUFoST, is the former Director General of Health Canada’s Food Directorate, Canada’s Food Standard Setting body and a former Vice Chair of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission. Professor Godefroy assumed senior food regulatory positions at the executive level with Health Canada for over 15 years. Prof. Godefroy is the founder and the current president of the Global Food Regulatory Science Society, (GFoRSS) a non-for-profit organization, aiming to promote food regulatory science disciplines at the international level. Samuel is currently Full Professor of Food Risk Analysis and Regulatory Policies in the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada and is leading the development of a Food Risk Analysis and Regulatory Excellence Platform (PARERA), hosted by the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF) of Université Laval. Prof. Godefroy currently serves as a senior food science and regulatory expert on a number of advisory bodies and committees domestically and internationally, including on the International Advisory Committee of the China Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA). Prof. Godefroy also serves as a strategic and operational advisor to international food safety capacity building initiatives focused on regulatory enhancement, implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He is a Fellow of IAFoST and co-chair of the IUFoST Codex Committee.

Fred Kongongo is an Agribusiness Development leader who champions Agri- transformation as a catalyst to combat the twin problems of poverty and hunger at United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Passionate about Science and Technology, he has a practical approach to problem solving. Globally experienced, he is resolute about inspiring and empowering communities to play increased roles in deploying science and technology to advance pro-smallholder farmers food system transformation, especially in Africa.  

Prior to his current role at UNIDO, he served as a Senior Sector Specialist and Project Manager at the USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, where he devised innovative strategies to enhance trade, investment, and job creation in Eastern Africa. At the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) he played a pivotal role in setting up and spearheading the institution's industrialization, science, and technology transformation agenda in East and Southern Africa. He is an alumnus Andrews University US, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA and Moi University, Kenya. 

Erich Windhab received his university education in Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe in Germany where he also received his doctorate. During his doctoral thesis he founded his first own engineering company. From 1985 to 1992 Erich Windhab played a leading role in establishing the German Institute for Food Technology as its Research Director. He also taught at the Technical University of Munich from 1988 to 1993. In 1992 he was appointed full professor in Food Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, where he headed the Laboratory of Food Process Engineering. Erich Windhab has received several international awards, including: 2003, Blaise Pascal Medal (European Academy of Sciences); 2014, Int. Food Engineering Award (ASABE); 2015/2021, Lifetime Achievement Awards (IAEF & EFFoST); 2018, Distinguished Lecturer Award (IUFoST); 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award (Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences, SATW). He published more than 630 scientific papers and ca. 90 patent applications. His research fields include Food Process Engineering with focus on multiscale functional structuring in flow processes, Fluid Mechanics, Rheology, Soft Matter Physics, Process Control/Automation and food product/process/factory design. He is the Chair of the IUFoST Task Force on Food Processing for Diet, Nutrition and Health.

Chair and Facilitator

Ogugua Charles Aworh, Immediate Past President, International Academy of Food Science and Technology and Fellow, African Academy of Sciences (FAAS), is Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and past Academy Chair of Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST). He obtained B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria, MS and PhD in Food Science and Technology from Cornell University, USA. He is a retired Distinguished Professor of UI. He has been visiting Research Fellow/Professor at University of Leeds, UK; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany. He is pioneer Chairman of UI’s Multidisciplinary Central Research Laboratory. His areas of research include post-harvest technology, food processing, food safety, biotechnology and quality of traditional African foods. Dr. Aworh was awarded the Top Agri-food pioneer 2024 for Indigenous Crops by the World Food Prize Foundation for his expertise in food processing and preservation technologies. His work is acknowledged by the WFP Foundation as significantly contributing to food security and rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Announcer

Adewale Olusegun Obadina is Project Officer, Association of African Universities and Professor of Food Safety and Biotechnology at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria; Visiting Professor, Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He served as the Director of Biotechnology Centre and Head of Department, Food Science and Technology at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. He was a member of the Board of Directors,International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) between 2020 – 2022; African Continental Association of Food Protection (ACAFP) – 2019 till date. Member of African Union Expert on Food Safety (2021 – till date), AU Expert Panel Technical Working Group on AMR and member of WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) – Reducing public health risks associated with the sale of live wild animals of mammalian species in traditional food markets (2023-2025). 

Rapporteurs

Dr. Felicia Nkrumah Kuagbedzi, a Ghanaian, is a seasoned Strategic Communications professional with over a decade of experience. She is the Senior Communications and Publications Officer at the Association of African Universities (AAU), where she leads internal and external communications and oversees the implementation of the Association’s communication strategies. She holds a PhD in ICT Education from Lagos State University, a master’s in communication studies, and a bachelor’s in information studies and Linguistics from the University of Ghana. Passionate about fostering effective stakeholder engagement, Dr. Nkrumah Kuagbedzi also has expertise in project management, serving in various leadership roles while co-leading international research and gender equality initiatives.

Professor Dominic Agyei holds a BSc in Food Science and Technology from KNUST, Ghana, and a PhD in Chemical (Bioprocess) Engineering from Monash University, Australia. He completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Deakin University, Australia, where he focused on chemo-enzymatic techniques for developing peptide-lipid bio-conjugates for food and pharmaceutical applications. His research focuses on using in silico tools and bioprocess engineering to forecast and convert biological materials into high-value bioactive products, including an interest in the nutrition, health, and functional benefits of edible insects. He led the Edible Insect and Food Bioactives Research Group at University of Otago, New Zealand and has published over 120 journal articles and book chapters. He was the recipient of the 2021 IUFoST Outstanding Researcher Award and is actively involved in the Administrative Council of Early Career Scientists of IUFoST.

Scientific Roundtable Discussion (SRD) Partners

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Global Food Regulatory Science Society (GFoRSS)