Zvezdan Kičeec, PhD DVM

Sales and Technical Manager – Hubbard
Eastern Europe and CIS

Title of presentation: How to prevent diseases on the farm & focus on respiratory diseases

Dr Zvezdan Kičeec is Hubbard Sales and Technical Manager for Eastern Europe and CIS countries. He received a PhD in physiology and pathology of poultry in 1989 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Dr Kičeec has a long-standing expertise as a veterinary inspector and poultry consultant. Zvezdan joined Hubbard in 2016 as Senior Technical Consultant and was promoted in 2021 as Business Development and Technical Manager for the above-mentioned region and other specific events.

Vicent Lukanima

Assistant Production and Quality Control Manager – Aviagen East Africa

Title of presentation: TBC

Vicent Lukanima works as an Assistant Production and Quality Control Manager for Aviagen East Africa, where he regularly practices his Veterinary and Management skills. With over four years’ experience in the poultry industry, he works to ensure poultry health, production, welfare, and biosecurity is practiced. Vicent has also worked as a technical veterinarian consulting with small to large scale chicken farmers in Dar es Salaam and Pwani regions where he’s succeeded to help them in disease prevention by means of Biosecurity through training.

Dr Uledi Kimbavala

Technical Representative – Koudijs Animal Nutrition Tanzania Limited

Title of presentation: Introduction to the Poultry Coach, a farm management tool for Tanzanian farmers

Education: Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM)

Neshika Ramadhani Mlinga

Owner – Nebiha Food Products

Title of presentation: Egg powder technology

Neshika is an entrepreneur who owns the company Nebiha Food Products, primarily engaged in food processing.

Danko Vujosevic

Area Manager for South Africa – Biochem

Title of presentation: TBC

Danko Vujosevic is a specialist in poultry pathology and nutrition. He represents Biochem, a German company, and is based in South Africa. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree and has been practicing since 1989. Originally of Serbian descent, he has been living in South Africa for the past 20 years. He recently relocated to South Africa again on October 1, 2022.

His extensive work experience includes roles at prominent institutions such as the largest poultry center in Yugoslavia, Argyle Farm in South Africa, Bedson Africa in South Africa and the SADC region, AL Pharma in the USA where he managed product distribution through Instavet as an Export Manager. He has also worked for Schaumann in Germany and Dupont as the Technical Manager for Central East Europe and Regional Technical Manager for Southeast Europe.

Currently, he is employed by Biochem, where he initially served as the Technical Poultry Manager for South East Europe and now holds the position of Area Manager for South Africa.

Harmen-Jan Platvoet

Senior Technical Specialist in Poultry – Trouw Nutrition, Middle East and Africa

Title of presentation: TBC

Poultry expert Harmen-Jan Platvoet, with a Bachelor of Science degree and 53 years of age, boasts over 27 years of experience in providing poultry farmers with valuable advice to maximize both their technical performance and financial earnings. Harmen-Jan is renowned for his straightforward approach, taking pride in delivering clear and effective guidance that consistently improves the technical and financial outcomes for his clients and the companies he represents. He has achieved this through the sale of poultry feed for layer hens, parent stock broilers, and broilers.

During his tenure at Probroed & Sloot, his primary objective was to optimise hatchery performance by offering advice to contract parent stock farmers. A significant focus was on strategically planning breeding egg production to align with the sales of day-old broiler chicks.

For the past nine years, Harmen-Jan has been a Senior Technical Specialist in Poultry at Trouw Nutrition Middle East and Africa. His expertise lies in poultry farm management for layers, broilers, and breeders. Additionally, he excels in providing guidance to hatcheries, particularly in the context of the breeder farm-hatchery connection. He accomplishes this while extensively traveling throughout Africa and the Middle East.

Dr Ochieng Odede

Country Manager, East and Central Africa – dsm-firmenich

Title of presentation: Feed cost optimisation
Title of presentation: Mycotoxin Risk Management

Veterinarian and animal nutritionist with 25 years experience in animal health and nutrition industry in East Africa. Graduated from University of Nairobi in 1998 with Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Msc in Animal Nutrition and Feed science in 2016.

Raj Kumar Gera

Managing Director – Hester Biosciences Nepal Private Limited & Hester Biosciences Africa Limited

Title of presentation: Poultry Vaccination-Basics and Good Practices

Raj serves as the Managing Director of both Hester Biosciences Nepal Private Limited and Hester Biosciences Africa Limited, both of which are renowned manufacturers specialising in poultry and livestock vaccines. With over three decades of dedicated involvement in the poultry industry, Raj has amassed a wealth of experience and expertise.

His journey in the field of poultry vaccines has been characterized by holistic and diverse exposure across various facets of the industry. This includes hands-on engagement in vaccine production, stringent quality control measures, intricate technical aspects, and the intricate management of the supply chain. As a result of this comprehensive experience, Raj has emerged as a distinguished subject matter expert in the realm of poultry vaccines.

In addition to his extensive industry knowledge, Raj boasts an educational background in pharmacy and science. Moreover, he has successfully completed an Executive MBA program at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, further enhancing his qualifications and contributing to his impressive track record in the field.

Dr Kimory Ryoba

Head of Technical Sales and Marketing – Thrishool

Title of presentation: Vaccine and Vaccination Protocol

Dr Kimory Ryoba graduated from SUA nine years ago, where he pursued a veterinary medicine degree program. He has accumulated three years of experience practicing veterinary medicine in various regions of the country. Additionally, he has an extensive five-year background in marketing vaccines and other animal health products, having served as the Technical Sales Manager at Hester Biosciences Tanzania until September 2022. Since that time, he has been employed at Thrishool, where he holds the position of Head of Technical Sales and Marketing, continuing his contributions to the field.

Joseph Bazili Tarimo

Standards Officer, Department of Food and Agriculture – Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)

Title of presentation: TBC

Mr Joseph Bazili Tarimo is a graduate of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and a Master of Science in Tropical Animal Production.

He has an experience in the areas of Animal nutrition and animal feed resources as a Standards Officer and a Livestock Tutor.

Currently, Mr Tarimo is working as a Standards Officer in the department of Food and Agriculture at Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS). The Department is responsible in developing national food and feed safety standards and hosting the Codex Alimentarius Commission Contact point (CCP) in Tanzania.

He is also involved in conducting Quality Assurance inspections, research and trainings to SMEs and farmers on quality food and feeds.

Previously Mr Tarimo worked with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development as a Livestock Tutor at Livestock Training Agency – Mpwapwa Campus. He was responsible in training Animal production courses, supervision of Special and Entrepreneurship projects to Certificate and Diploma students in Animal Health and Production. He was also involved in designing and implementing farmers training programs.

Dr Esther Nkuba Mbela

Nutritionist – Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC)

Title of presentation: TBC

Dr Esther Nkuba Mbela is a Nutritionist who works with the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC). With a Ph.D. degree in Human Nutrition, a master’s degree in human nutrition, and a BSc in Home Economics and Human Nutrition, Dr Esther has extensive knowledge in her field. She also has a diploma in Education and has been teaching for 14 years and researching for 12 years. Dr Esther is the Acting Director of Nutrition Education and Training at TFNC. Her main responsibilities include leading the department’s operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow, and providing leadership in nutrition education and research to prevent and control all forms of malnutrition in Tanzania. She also promotes excellence in research programs of the Directorate and identifies new nutrition research opportunities, programs, and research agendas. The program includes Maternal, infant, young children, and adolescent nutrition (MIYCAN) and social behavior change communication (SBCC). Dr Esther previously worked as a researcher at the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) for nine years, where she held the position of Head of the Postharvest Management program. She was responsible for nutrition-related activities at the Institute, including root and tubers, cereals and grains, and other crops. Dr Esther has also worked with Bioversity International-Uganda as a Research Fellow. She trained farmers and women of reproductive age on nutrition and postharvest technologies and prepared and translated the Climate-Smart Agriculture Guideline and manual. Her research interests lie in dietary diversity, maternal and child nutrition, micronutrients, dietary-related non-communicable diseases, food and nutrition security, and nutrition-sensitive research, including Climate-smart Agriculture. Dr Esther is also innovative in product development, particularly in functional foods.