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Dear N2Africa colleagues, friends and supporters,
With deep regret we write to inform you that Jean-Marie Sanginga passed away. Jean-Marie was part of N2Africa from the very start and played a key role in all of our activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We’re sure that all of you who had the privilege to meet Jean-Marie have your own thoughts and memories - he was an open, warmhearted, loyal and very trustworthy colleague. Despite all of the day-to-day challenges he encountered working in the dynamic, beautiful and unpredictable environment of Sud-Kivu, we could always rely on Jean-Marie to ensure that things happened and to deliver top quality work. He was truly committed to improving the lot of smallholder farmers through putting the very best agronomic technologies into their hands.
We will all miss him sorely and extend our sincere condolences to his family and close friends.
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All three photo’s are from the annual meeting of N2Africa in Mbale, Uganda, that took place end February- early March 2017 (Photos: Charlotte Schilt)
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Stay safe and take care!
Kind regards,
Ken Giller & Bernard Vanlauwe
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| I will surely miss the presence of a truly lovable and kind person |
| My first time to land in South Kivu Province of DRC was March 2010 when I had just taken up the role of Country Coordinator for the N2Africa Project. At this time when this region was recovering from the 2005-2008 civil wars, with restrictions to work in rural areas. Notwithstanding the security fear that existed at that time, Jean-Marie as the key field agronomist, laid an important groundwork, building on earlier work through the CIALCA project. He mobilized three strong local development organizations (DIOBASS, PAD and SARCAF) into the project and within a few weeks, we managed to establish the first farmer-managed try-outs of legume technologies in the project mandate area. By 2013, DRC had widely-installed field demonstrations and farmer field days – at that time more than any other country in the project. |
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| Jean-Marie was passionate to help farmers learn and try-out what he believed was of greatest benefit to them. He ensured that the project extended its operations to new areas like Uvira and Goma, where positive results continue to be seen today. He always encouraged and invited students to work in the project. I remember Jean-Marie shared his office with students from the local Universities in the town of Bukavu.
On a personal note, he always emphasized to keep people’s morale up and appreciated their contribution after hard work. For him this was often done by inviting them for simple snacks and drinks. As a father, Jean-Marie was devoted to his family. I remember the time he visited me in Kisumu, Kenya where we spent four hours together ensuring that he had a gift to take home for each member of his family.
Freddy Baijukya, N2Africa Country Coordinator for DRC in Phase I and N2Africa Country Coordinator for Tanzania in Phase II
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| Africa has lost a committed farmers’ champion – Rest in Peace! |
| Jean-Marie continued his work in DR Congo throughout Phase II (2014-2017) as Country Coordinator of the N2Africa Project after his excellent performance during Phase I (2009-2013). We built a lot on the solid foundation that had been laid during the first phase of the project; this helped us to avoid mistakes. Under his coordination, Jean-Marie ensured that the DR Congo team regularly made contributions in the N2Africa Podcaster on the various activities taking place in the country. He developed and strengthened many partnerships and ensured that they reached many farmers and enabled them to use N2Africa technologies. Some of these partners actually funded activities through the N2Africa project due to their trust in his able leadership. |
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Jean-Marie really pushed students who had been supported during Phase I of N2Africa to finish their studies – he had a sense that the future of agricultural research was in the hands of young people. This helped students from the Université Catholique de Bukavu to use IITA facilities and give them opportunities to strengthen their science. Those who took this casually or for granted must have found themselves on the wrong side!! No task was impossible for Jean-Marie – he had the will and inner drive to deliver. No wonder he was always been involved in starting new projects/activities. Jean-Marie as a really pleasant team player who fitted in very well with the broader international N2Africa team. As a family man he was very committed to the education of his daughters who studies in Nairobi at the Catholic University) – he invited me for the graduation.
Fred Kanampiu, N2Africa Coordinator for Phase II
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| Biography |
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Name
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Jean-Marie Sanginga
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Date of Birth
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December 27th, 1960
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Date of Death
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June 7th, 2020
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| Milestones |
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1985
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BSc en agronomie (BSC Agronomy)
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1985
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Superviseur adjoint dans la societe privee Kinaplant dans la fabrication du the et Quinquina (Assist, Private Society Kinaplant
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1990 - 1994
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Assistant et chef de programme a l'Union de Cooperation Europeenne et Congo (Assistant program manag, Cooperation Union European and Congo RD (Zaire)
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1994 - 2002
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Chef Superviseur de la societe (Chief Supervisor), Domaine de Katale
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2003 - 2005
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Agronome (Agronomist), Food for Hungry International
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2005 - 2009
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Assistant de recherche dans lee project (Research Assistant), CIALCA
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2009 - 2017
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Coodinateur national du project N2Afica (National Coordinator), N2Africa
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2012
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L'Universite evangelique en Afrique (Evangelistic University in Africa), MSc en agronomie (MSC Agronomy)
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2018 - 2020
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Chef du bureau de L'IITA, Uvira, dans le cadre du programme (Head, IITA Office, Uvira), IITA
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