African Jersey Forum (AJF) Development Team
David Hambrook
Head of International Dairy for Development & General Manager, Jersey Island Genetics
David spent his formative Jersey breed years on the family’s dairy farm in Sussex, England. Initially coming to work in Jersey in 1983 with the renowned Blanc Pignon herd, followed by five years as the National Field Officer for the UK Jersey Cattle Society between 1995 and 2000, when David returned to the Island and has since been with the Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society (RJA&HS) for over twenty years.
David covers a number of livestock focussed roles. He acts as general manager of Jersey Island Genetics Ltd, the Society’s commercial livestock arm, through which Island originated genetics are marketed, whilst the company also facilitates and manages the majority of on-island farm user technical services. He also leads the RJA&HS Dairy for Development project portfolio and advises on regional initiatives to develop the Jersey breed in Africa.
Sam Thomson
Dairy for Development Programme Officer
Dairy for Development Programme Officer Sam Thomson has over eight years’ experience in international development. He joined the RJA&HS in March 2020, to support the Society’s growing portfolio of Dairy for Development projects in the areas of monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and project design.
Prior to joining the Society, Sam spent four years in international development consultancy, working in business development, project management and monitoring and evaluation. He has experience with public and privately funded projects in a range of sectors and has led research and evaluation studies for agricultural projects in Uganda and Myanmar.
In his role at the RJA&HS, he has supported the establishment of the African Jersey Forum website platform along with providing technical and managerial support to the RJA&HS Dairy for Development country projects.
David ‘Dai’ Harvey
Technical Advisor
David ‘Dai’ Harvey is a dairy and market development specialist with 30 years’ experience working across Africa. Dai provides technical expertise and management support to the RJA&HS Dairy for Development portfolio across the region. Currently Global Technical Director with Land O’ Lakes Venture37 programme, he has livelihood development experience across numerous value chains and countries in Africa and globally, working with both private sector and development sector actors. Much of this work has focused on integrating smallholder farmers into formal value chains. Dai is still actively involved in his home farm in northern Zambia where his herd of Jerseys supplies the local district’s towns. While based in Zambia he was the chairperson of the Herdbook Society of Zambia and had great success breeding Dairy Championship-winning Jerseys.
Dr Felicien Shumbusho
Director of Animal Genetic Improvement, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB)
Felicien has over nine years’ experience in livestock research and development. Since 2014 he has worked for RAB where he coordinates livestock genetic improvement activities including planning, implementation, monitoring and capacity building of stakeholders. Felicien has successfully collaborated with different government institutions, international research institutions, development partners, NGOs, livestock professional organisations, farmer cooperatives, commercial farmers and smallholder farmers. He has actively participated in development and implementation of the Jersey Inka Nziza project funded by JOA, implemented in Rwanda since 2017. Felicien is the project focal person at RAB and advises on cattle genetic improvement activities of the project and reports project progress to RAB and Ministry of Agriculture. Before joining RAB, he was based at Institut de l’Elevage (IDELE) in France as a Project Officer and as a PhD student researcher at Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRAE), modelling the use and assessing the benefits of molecular information in livestock breeding programmes.
Dr Barnabas Chitalu
Zambia Technical Advisor
Barnabas is a qualified vet based in Lusaka. He is working for the RJA&HS D4D team as a Technical Consultant and supporting ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) Zambia on the Jersey Breed Focussed Dairy Development in Zambia project. With over 20 years of experience in veterinary and development work, Barnabas is a well networked professional in the dairy sector in Zambia.
Innocent Rwamuhizi
Rwanda Technical Consultant
Innocent works as a Technical Consultant in Rwanda. He collects dairy data from smallholder farmers in Rwanda and also assists with the Songa project and teaches farmers about best practice for managing dairy cows along with teaching Artificial Inseminators how to use the National Livestock Database of Rwanda to record dairy data. With support from Innocent (and others), approximately 1.4 million cattle nationwide were recognised and registered in the National Livestock Database. Innocent has a Masters in Animal Production and is hoping to commence a PhD soon. His research interests include evaluating the benefits of the Jersey breed for rural lifestyles, genetic advancement, productivity, reproductive data, farm records management, and other dairy management techniques to support the dairy sector by using the Jersey breed.
Sam Houiellebecq
Dairy for Development Programme Officer
Sam joined RJA&HS in the Dairy for Development team as a D4D Programme Officer in March 2023 following the completion of his Programme Associate year with Jersey Overseas Aid and Ripple Effect (formerly Send a Cow). He spent time with Ripple Effect working in Rwanda, Kenya and the UK, in both office and project-based tasks. Sam has previously spent time living, working and volunteering in Africa, including in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa.
Philippe Rumenera
Rwanda Technical Consultant
Philippe Rumenera is employed by the RJA&HS D4D team as a Technical Consultant. He provides research and technical advice to the Society’s work in Rwanda with RAB. He has more than 20 years of experience in implementing activities in different domains in agribusiness, trade policy and export promotion strategies. He has a Masters in Agriculture Economics and speaks English and French as well as Swahili and Rwanda’s local language Kinyarwanda.
Dr Roulex Owino
Veterinary Advisor
Roulex is the Project Vet on the RJA&HS’s Malawi Dairy Project, working with Shire Highlands Milk Producers Association (SHMPA). He has spent 10 years working in livestock development and research in Kenya (where he was born), West Africa and Malawi – including five years as Project Vet with SHMPA. He has experience in the commercial sector and with international institutions and NGOs including ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Caritas, and USAID (United States Agency for International Development). Roulex holds a Bachelors in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
