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Our team encompasses a wide range of expertise including farm-level-, socio- and consumer economics, market – and value chain analytics, econometrics and statistics. We believe this multidisciplinary capacity is key to innovative solutions.
In an ever-changing world, we are here to help you navigate and lead in Africa’s agricultural,
agro-processing and food sectors.
Albert is a systems specialist at IVIS. His responsibilities include the implementation and maintenance of the IVIS software services and infrastructure as well as data integration and system and process development of the BFAP divisions, their clients and partners.
Dipuo is an analyst in the commodity markets and foresight division. She is responsible for updating and data management of macro-economic and international price data and the development and maintenance of sectoral PE. Through model development and research Dipuo has gained valuable experience related to the cotton industry in South Africa.
Divan is a senior analyst and agricultural economists with more than ten years’ experience in farm-level technical, financial and investment analysis. He leads BFAP’s Farm and Production Analytics Division and partake in various value chain prioritisation studies in sub-Sahara Africa. He manages the South African cash crop network, an international initiative coordinated by the agri benchmark group in Germany. He obtained a PhD in agricultural economics, focusing on mechanisation trends and adoption of tractor rental markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
Gerhard has a rooted understanding of the strategic and operational dimensions of agricultural industries, agri-business and the combined challenges and opportunities that it presents. He works with industry organisations, private sector and governments across agriculture and other sectors such as minerals, energy, water, and environment. Furthermore, as a director of IVIS, Gerhard leads process and systems-oriented projects which require innovation and multi-dimensional subject matter integration. For more than ten years his passion as an agricultural economist was also extended into production and market analytics, where he specialises in production and resource modelling, as well as value chain optimisation.
Helga is an analyst in the Value Chain Analytics, and Farm and Production analytics divisions. Her training as an industrial engineer is used to evaluate and optimise product flows in food value chains as well as farm- and performance analytics.
As an agricultural economist specialising in consumer food and nutrition economics in South Africa and the broader African continent, Hester’s focus includes the analysis of consumer behaviour and food choices, the impact of macro-economic changes on food consumption patterns, consumer food trends, food consumption patterns and marketing strategy formulation. From a food- and nutrition security perspective Hester’s focus includes nutrition economics, food security elements and food affordability analysis – including monitoring the cost of healthy eating in South Africa. She is an established presenter at academic and industry conferences and has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Jodie is an Agricultural Economist and analyst in the commodity markets and foresight division. She specialises in commodity market modelling, running in-depth and robust data analysis, custom visualisation of insight and spatial contextualisation for client specific outcomes. Jodie has a passion for the fresh produce industry but currently focuses on all commodities.
Kandas is an agricultural economist whose focus is primarily on the farm level economics of long term, export orientated high value crops, covering a wide range of commodities, including fruit, nuts and wine. Her research focus includes farm level profitability and impact quantification, competitiveness, logistics and trade flows. Her research and consequent peer reviewed publication record reflects her interest in this field.
Khani is an analyst in the commodity markets and foresight division. She is responsible for updating and the management of macro-economic and international price data. Furthermore, Khani is accountable for the development and maintenance of sectoral PE models for selected South African commodities. Through model development and research, she has gained valuable experience related to the beef industry as well as international trade.
Lianda is a data analyst at BFAP within the monitoring and evaluation space. She’s responsible for integrating various data sources to render client-specific interactive dashboards and spatial visualisations.
Louise is an analyst within the BFAP data science and systems integration division. With a background in industrial engineering, she specialises in simulation modelling and supporting system products with process development and continuous improvement.
Louw is a Senior Analyst at BFAP with experience in both the private and public sector. His area of expertise is in agricultural value chains and agro-processing analytics, as well as international trade. Louw has more than ten years of experience in policy research in South Africa and on the African continent and is passionate about unlocking economic development. In his previous position as Deputy Director at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture he led an economic research unit doing applied research in macro and resource economics.
Marion is BFAP’s lead data scientist and is responsible for data management and advanced analytics. Her training as a mathematical statistician enables her to facilitate the subject matter experts in BFAP to extract the most value from various data sources for in depth insights. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Stellenbosch University.
Marnus is BFAP’s Operational Manager and also contributes to the Agri-Socio Economic division through his extensive experience in studying actual and potential socio-economic and farm-level impacts of development interventions or technology adoption, with special focus on resource poor farmers.
Mmatlou is a senior analyst, BFAP director and research fellow at Stellenbosch University. His focus areas include international trade and agricultural policy. He was previously with the University of Pretoria as senior lecturer. Mmatlou supervised PhD and Masters students and furthermore has publications covering topics such as non-tariff measures, climate change, information communication technology, regional trade agreements, and policy reforms.
Marilette has worked in the Agricultural Industry for 14 years, gaining experience in accounting, project finances, human resources, and programme management. As a seasoned accounting officer, she is passionate about programme and project management. Marilette has obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Human Resource Management from the University of Johannesburg.
As agricultural economist, Ferdi has more than 20 years of experience, specialising in the agricultural market, trade – and policy modelling and analyses, value chain analytics, strategic foresight and scenario planning. He was a founding member of BFAP in 2004 and as managing director, his passion lies in motivating people and growing institutions and businesses with strong national and international networks. Ferdi serves on various boards of firms, frequently appears as an invited speaker on national and international platforms and holds a position as Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Stellenbosch.
An established specialist in agricultural market analysis, Tracy is a Director and leads the Commodity Markets and Foresight program at BFAP. Her research focus includes commodity market modelling, price formation and spatial price relationships, competitiveness and international trade. Tracy has an extensive record of international collaboration, contributing regularly to international market outlook publications and conferences. She has a consistent publication record in peer reviewed journals and is currently also a Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University. She obtained a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Pretoria in 2018.
Sandy has over 20 years of corporate experience across the various disciplines of Technical and Operational Management, Procurement, Supply Chain Management as well as Sustainable Development with specific focus on the development and implementation of Sustainable Agriculture programs across the African continent. Sandy heads the Agri-Socio Economics division in BFAP. She works across a range of industries to support clients in the strategic planning and practical implementation of sustainable development goals that are integrated with commercial strategy to drive business growth and deliver socio-economic impact. Sandy has extensive experience in defining the required monitoring and evaluation criteria integrated with a systems approach to provide customised solutions for performance and impact measurement and reporting.
A practiced and qualified agricultural scientist with more than thirty years’ experience in designing and implementing inter-disciplinary research projects relating to animal, crop and climate change sciences. Wiltrud is an established data scientist with strong skills in crop modelling, GIS and advanced data analysis. Wiltrud has led and collaborated in numerous national and international funded projects and has published in books and peer reviewed journals.
Qualified agronomist with three years of in-field experience as an agriculturist. Fertiliser recommendations for annual crops and pastures as well as prescription recommendations for grid soil samples in precision agriculture were her main responsibilities. Karen was recently appointed as analyst in BFAP, while she is continuing her PhD-degree on the Data Intensive Farm Management (DIFM) project. Her studies will focus on both the agronomic and economic sides of the Data Intensive Farm Management (DIFM) project, which BFAP is implementing in collaboration with several industry partners in the summer and winter rainfall regions.
BFAP’s Swiss Army Knife; with her expertise Daléne will find the right tool (or person) at the right time to solve your question, challenge, or query.
