A TEAM DEDICATED TO YOUR SUCCESS
Josh Roche
CEO & Co-founder
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Josh has been engaged in African agriculture management and consulting his entire professional career. Since 2016, he has been based in East Africa developing business models for sustainable agriculture in the region. From 2013 to 2016 he managed conservation farming and hybrid seed production in Zambia. Josh is from Zimbabwe and underwent his Bachelor’s of Science in Agriculture and Agronomy at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Andrew Uden
President & Co-founder
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Andrew became acquainted with Josh whilst both were working at Heartland Global and quickly became friends. Andrew leads the livestock systems business segment with advanced technical knowledge and experience of livestock production and all levels of the value chain.
Andrew completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned his Master’s of Applied Science focusing on Development of Livestock Systems leading him to extensive experience in agricultural production in Australia, Russia, and East Africa. He also co-founded Quantified Ag, a livestock technology company focusing on biometric devices and data analytics for beef cattle which was recently sold to Pharma behemoth Merck. He resides with his wife and three young children in Seward, Nebraska, USA.
Herbert Dusabe
Internal Counsel
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Being one of Uganda’s leading energy sector legal experts, Mr. Dusabe has been involved with electricity and petroleum since the mid-1990s. In Uganda, Herbert has negotiated and drafted several legal and contractual documents for several Power Project developments, while also engaging as the legal adviser to the Government of Uganda. As an advocate of the High Court of Uganda, Herbert is a member of the East African Law Society both well versed in private and public investment sectors. Herbert advised the Attorney General’s Office of Uganda in inter-ministerial meetings on the sustainable development of Uganda’s natural resources. His practice with the Government involved energy, environmental, and water legislation, agreements, policies, contracts, and international conventions through drafting, reviewing and analyzing documents. Aside from Herbert’s legal expertise, he is also a farmer. He has a 1800 acre ranch sustaining local Ankole, Zebu and crossbred Simmental cattle and breeds high-quality savannah goats making Herbert’s lifetime legal experience a perfect fit to AVI’s team.
Andrew Cavell
Director of Strategy & Senior Partner
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Mr. Cavell started his career in the banking and financing industry at Barclays Banking Group in 1961. Working his way through the ranks, he became the Senior Manager of the Head Office in London. After serving as Managing Director on the Board of Directors of Barclays Bank of Uganda in 1993, he took a position in 1998 as the CEO of DFCU Bank in Uganda. Three years later, Andrew moved to Centenary Rural Development Bank in Uganda and was the acting CEO overseeing all national operations. In 2004, Andrew became the non-executive director and chairman of the credit committee for Commercial Microfinance Ltd. His impressive history in the banking and finance industry across Africa and various non-executive directorships in Uganda, Spain, and Tanzania bring strong value to the AVI team. Andrew is a British citizen and resident of Uganda.
Ryan Sherwood
COO & Senior Partner
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Ryan has spent his 16-year professional career in various roles of agriculture. He joined AVI in 2019 and leads the company’s finance, business partnership development and consulting segments.
Prior to AVI, Ryan was the divisional VP of the Grain business unit of Aurora Cooperative in Nebraska, responsible for operations growth and success. His early career was as a commodity futures broker with FCStone providing clients with financial risk management consulting. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with emphasis in finance and economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and earns his MBA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Ryan, his wife and three young children live in Colorado, USA.
Apollo Ataho
Country Coordinator - Uganda
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Apollo is a professional medical doctor and agriculture enthusiast from Uganda. His influential experience in cattle farming has earned him various national accolades including Uganda’s Best Farmer (central region) 2015, and numerous show ring trophies as the operational director at Frank-Farm Estates. Apollo was educated at Kings College Budo, Mbarara University of Science and Technology and a certification from the University of Manchester, UK. As Operations Director at Frank-Farm Estates, he is responsible for farm staff management, grazing, and production strategies, herd management, and product marketing. Apollo was also a National Executive Committee member of Renaissance Livestock Farmers Network (RELINE) focusing on value chain management to sustain profitable farms. Apollo brings practical and cultural knowledge of Ugandan agriculture allowing him to be an essential member of AVI’s team.
Wynn Jones Kapaliswa
Country Coordinator - Tanzania
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Kapaliswa is a seasoned agro-marketing administrator with over 30 years of experience ranging from research, marketing, human resource management, small holder farmers organizations, training and administration. His experience includes work with governments, private sector international firms and non-profit organizations. He serves AVI as Head of HR and Compliance and facilitates outgrower outreach.
Prior to AVI, he was country representative for BASF and managed an outgrower program for Technoserve funded by USAID, WHO and the Better World Together Foundation which cultivated Artemisia, a plant whose extract is used to produce malaria treatment drugs. He also operates his own 150 acre farm, growing horticulture crops, fish farming and a piggery.
Tony Wales
Project Development Manager
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Tony joined AVI in 2019 and leads the Project Development team to complete the construction works of our Projects such as bulk earthworks, infrastructure construction, and machinery procurement & installation.
Prior to AVI, he held a business development and project management position at Plascon Uganda. His other work experiences include Project Manager for road works in South Sudan, bulk earthworks mining Operations Management in DRC, import/export manager of food products in Uganda, and vast experience in the fisheries industry.
Tony is from South Africa and has lived in Uganda for 25 years with his wife and children.
Hugo Titley
Project Operations Manager
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Hugo joined the AVI team in Tanzania in 2020. He coordinates the daily operations of our Projects working with farm managers and field supervisors to ensure efficiency and maximize production.
Hugo’s previous experiences are an ideal fit for AVI. He started his own consultancy company that did poultry work for multi-national organizations in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda. He has procurement experience clearing goods for mining in DRC via Mombassa and Uganda. He also has crop and livestock experience with small-holder and commercial farms in Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, and China.
Hugo is from Zimbabwe and lives in Tanzania; he is fluent in French and Kiswahili.
Linos Wafula
Machinery Maintenance Manager
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Wafula leads the machinery maintenance teams at our projects providing a vital service to keeping farm operations teams moving without delays. He is a diesel mechanic expert having vast experience with heavy machinery in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and DRC. His management of workshop operations reduce the reliance of waiting for technical experts needing to be transported to project sites.
Before joining AVI, Wafula was employed by Civicon, Catholic Relief Services and Interact Relief managing teams on major development projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
Farai Chihowa
Farm Manager - Kyankwanzi Premier Ranchers
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Farai was born and raised on farms in Zimbabwe. From an early age he knew that agriculture would be his career path. He attended Blackfordby Agricultural College in Zimbabwe and gained a wide range of experience in commercial agriculture in a managerial capacity. In 2017, Farai left Zimbabwe for Uganda as he realised Uganda offered far greater opportunity for his future in Agricultural Management.
Farai has managerial experience in a wide range both cropping and livestock including plantation production of Macadamia. Farai is a truly dedicated farmer and committed family man.