Our Team
Emanual (Emil) van Wyk
Country Director
Emil Van Wyk is the Country Director of AgriSmart Zambia. He is also the Director of the Regional Centre for Horticultural Innovation for Southern Africa in collaboration with Rutgers University, New Jersey and serves as member of the International Advisory Board for Horticulture as the Africa representative.
His main field of expertise is in agriculture business, new crop ventures, irrigation and water management, market facilitation and community development. As a former successful South African farmer that produced fruits, vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants he has developed new crop production and specialty fresh market vegetable crops and herbs in South Africa and over the last 15 years he has worked and consulted in the agricultural sector in China, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Peru. Van Wyk also specializes in the analysis of value chains of horticultural crops, feasibility studies for new enterprises and operations.
“My ongoing motivation in this position is to see first-hand that through the implementation of our projects we are making a daily positive impact on the lives of people we assist.”
“Emil Van Wyk has a wealth of experience in managing agricultural projects in multiple locations around the world over the past 20 years including South Africa, China, Philipines, Ethiopia and Zambia.
He brings a unique skill set to his projects with his commercial agricultural acumen and his ability to galvanise, motivate and guide impoverished rural communities to successful sustainable projects.
Emil’s first project in Zambia to empower 5000 outgrower small farmers in multiple locations has exceeded all expectations and was concluded over a three year period.
His hard work and people skills have created a strong team and an extensive network within Zambia which offers a platform for the implementation of commercial and community based agricultural projects on a much wider scale.
Emil understands what it takes to create new agricultural projects in rural Africa. He is a person who always finishes what he starts and can be relied upon as a trustworthy dependable development partner for Zambia.”
Lupiya Sakala
Programmes Manager, Eastern Region
Lupiya has completed two short courses in China. The first one was a six week course in Ecological Agricultural practices presented in the Hubei Province in 2010 and the second one was a six week course in Rainwater Harvesting and utilisation presented in the Guangzhou Province in 2011. He is responsible for programme implementation in the Eastern Region.
“I love my job and my colleagues as well as what we do every day. Our country director is an inspiration and through his humble and practical approach, positive reinforcement and motivation efforts we see our farmers grow and smile.”
Goodson Chewe
Programmes Manager, Northern Region
Goodson studied Agricultural Science at High School and has a number of years of experience in the field.
“Helping rural people overcome some of their biggest challenges on a daily basis makes me love my job.”
Mwangala Mbewe
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Mwangala has a Diploma in Social Work and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) from the University of Zambia and is currently completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management at Zambian Open University.
“I have always has a passion for helping people and working for AgriSmart Zambia, I see that things are improving and developing on the ground level in my country. AgriSmart Zambia has really helped me to develop my career and I plan to continue working with the organisation.”
