The Association of Somali Agricultural Professionals (ASAP) is a future leader of Somalia’s capacity development in the agriculture sector.
The Association of Somali Agricultural Professionals (ASAP) is an initiative from dedicated Somali agricultural professionals. The primary goal of the association is to enhance the institutional capacity of the country through research and training. ASAP is a platform for all Somali agricultural professionals to network and contributes to the development of Somalia's agriculture.
ASAP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Yusuf Mohamoud: Chair
Dr. Mohamoud earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural sciences from the Somali National University in 1981 and a Master of Science degree in water resources engineering from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1985. Dr. Mohamoud earned a Ph.D. degree in water resources engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. Dr. Mohamoud currently lives in Duluth, Georgia, USA. Dr. Mohamoud worked for the following institutions: Hydrologist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria; Environmental Science Advisor for the University of Arizona-USAID Malawi Environmental Monitoring Project (MEMP), Lilongwe, Malawi; Principal Engineer, Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD); Research Hydrologist, Office of Research and Development of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), USA. Dr. Mohamoud is a licensed professional civil engineer and member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Dr. Mohamoud is a consultant in environmental protection and water resources management.
Ahmed Mumin Warfa
Professor Ahmed Mumin Warfa (Ph.D.), is a botanist by training, with particular interest to taxonomy. He received his Ph.D. from the department of botany, college of the science, Uppsala University, Sweden, in January 13, 1989. Dr. Warfa taught various classes, related to the field of botany for Somali and American students in their respective countries for 40 years from Nov. 1975 to Nov. 2015, now retired. Also, Dr. Warfa is considered as one of the most prominent African scientists in taxonomy, where, he discovered more than 53 new taxa to science. Crotalaria warfae Thulin, is a new species to science, which is coined or named after him. His botanical work can be seen in “Wikipedia”.
Mohamed Abukar
Dr. Mohamed Ali Abukar, a native from Somalia, currently resides in Phoenix (AZ), is the Founder and President of Somali American United Council of Arizona. Dr. Abukar holds a BS degree, two MS degrees including a certificate in Journalism and a Ph.D. with a major in Public Administration and an emphasis in Agricultural Extension Management. Dr. Abukar has worked for Utah State University (LOGAN) in two departments, serving as Graduate Instructor for four courses. He was also a member of a Master of Science graduate students committee and has actively contributed to several international Development issues. Dr. Abukar has also worked for Grand Canyon University (PHOENIX), serving as Graduate Instructor for two courses. Dr. Abukar was the Chairman of the National Production Committee & General Manager of the Agricultural Extension & Farm Management Training project (AFMET) for Somalia. Dr. Abukar’s experiences include formal and non-formal education for both adults and youth; he has had many opportunities to work with a culturally diverse group of people in different working and learning environments. Dr. Abukar has an established reputation for ethical management, proven leadership based upon a record of honesty and integrity, excellent interpersonal skills and ability to handle the challenges of managing very complex organizations. Through his efforts, agriculture development in Somalia has experienced significant improvement, and was awarded the Silver Medal for meritorious conduct for his exceptional contribution to poverty eradication for food security and democracy in Somalia.
Ahmed Hussein
Ahmed A. Hussein
New Business Development
Agribusiness Consulting Company
Atlanta Georgia, USA
Ahmedios@yahoo.com
Ahmed Hussein has over 30 years of a leadership role within the food industry in North America and many international markets, Mr. Hussein has established food manufacturing facilities in India, China, Brazil and South Africa. He has also successfully engaged in technology transfer, product customization for the targeted market requirements, and the launching of many new products at contract manufacturing facilities in Italy, India, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, and many other manufacturing facilities within the U.S. Mr. Hussein held leading positions with companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Rich Products Corporation, H.C. Brill (a CSM Bakery Company), IFFCO Group of Companies based in Dubai and Focus Brands International. Over the years, Mr. Hussein has developed many value-added food products and authored four international patents in food product development and processing. In the last five years, Mr. Hussein has focused in New Business Development & investment in agribusiness in Africa where he traveled extensively in many countries including Mauritania, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, and South Africa. Mr. Hussein holds postgraduate degrees in Food Science from Cornell University and Food Process
Awes Karama
Dr. Karama was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Dr. Karama earned Laurea (B. Sc.) degree in agricultural sciences from the Somali National University, Somalia, MSc. in Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA. Dr. Karama was an assistant lecturer in Applied Hydrology, Faculty of Agriculture, Somali National University, Somalia. He worked as a graduate research assistant for the Texas A&M University, USA. Since 1993, Dr. Karama worked for the St. Johns River Water Management District of Florida State as a water resources engineer.
Dr. Karama’s areas of expertise include water resources management, hydrology modeling, hydraulic modeling, and statistical hydrology.
Abdinasir Abdulle
Dr. Abdulle earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Range sciences from the Somali National University and a Masters degree in Range Science with emphasis in Range Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from Utah State University, Utah, USA Dr. Abdulle taught Economics at Weber State University in Utah and University of Phoenix. Dr. Abdulle worked in the corporate world for a number of years. He served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. He also served as a Member of Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Currently, Dr. Abdulle is a Technical Consultant for Utah State Department of Commerce.
Mohamed Barre Ahmed
Mohamed Barre Ahmed began his career working in the Research Department in Somalia’s Ministry of Agriculture and became head of crop improvement. In this capacity he led the genetic purification of OPV of Maize: Somtux and Afgoi composite. He received MSc and a PhD from Michigan State University in Plant breeding and Genetics. Mohamed was a visiting scientist in the maize drought breeding program at CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) and later joined United Agro Seed (now part of Dow Agrochemical) as a high oil and protein breeder where he established a comprehensive maize breeding program focused on the development of competitive inbred lines with high protein and oil content.
He joined Syngenta as a maize breeder where he developed 17 inbred lines used in commercial white corn hybrids that have been tested and grown in the US, South Africa, Egypt, and Mexico. During his employment with Syngenta Mohamed was appointed to lead the global white corn germplasm improvement team which consisted of breeders from Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines and the US. Mohamed integrated appropriate new technologies such as Double Haploid, Marker Assisted Selection, and Genome Wide Selection into his corn breeding program to maximize genetic gain of germplasm development. He has 38 years of practical experience in plant breeding and managed not only research station for budgeting and staff development, but also breeding program. And holds several US patents in maize inbred lines that are in commercial production in Mexico and the U.S.
Later, Mohamed joined Del Monte Fresh Produce as a new product development manager where he worked on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other vegetables grown in greenhouses in Guatemala and Costa Rica as well as field production in the U.S. Mohamed was responsible to provide leadership in research procedures and strengthen linkages between production, marketing and sales groups within the company.
Dr. Aden Abullahi Aw-Hassan
Dr. Aden Abdullahi Aw-Hassan received Laurea (BSc) degree on Agricultural Science at the Somali National University in 1982, have taken several positions at the National Agricultural Extension Services (Ministry of Agriculture Somalia), in 192-1989. Dr Aw-Hasan received MSc on Agricultural Economics at Utah State University, USA. Later, after one year of service back in Somalia, Dr. Aw-Hassan studied at Oklahoma State University, USA, and obtained PhD on Agricultural Economics on December 1992. After completion of studies, Dr. Aw-Hasan joined the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) which is one of the 15 Agricultural Research Centers that form the Consultative Group for Inatentional Agricultural Research (CGIAR) dedicated for improvement in agricultural production, environmental protection, and human welfare in developing countries. Dr. Aw-Hasan worked at the Social and Economics Research Department of the above mentioned International Agricultural Research Center for 25 years at different capacities where he retired as Director of the Social, Economic and Policy Research Program on December 2017. During that period Dr. Aw-Hassan led and managed numerous agricultural research and development projects with particular focus on agricultural extension, agricultural policy, research impact assessment and monitoring and evaluation; planning, designing and executing social, economic and policy research in relation to agricultural and rural development. Dr Aw-Hassan have gathered large experience in collaborating with numerous International NGOs, national research programs, advanced research institutions (Universities) and donors. Geographically, his work covered countries in the Middle East, all across Africa and South Asia. Currently, Dr. Aw-Hassan is a Member of Parliament of the newly formed SSC-Khatumo Administration, based in LasAnod, Somalia.