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Our people

Get to know the people that make up the Micaia Family.

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Micaia Foundation

Operating Foundation

Operating foundation set up in 2009, using donor funding to implement a range of projects.
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Eco-Micaia Ltd.

Social Enterprise

Social enterprise set up by Micaia’s founders to support economic livelihoods and value chain.
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Micaia (UK)

Volunteer-run Charity

UK registered charity set up in 2007 to support the development of Micaia in Mozambique.
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Micaia Foundation

The Micaia foundation board

Dr Isilda Nhantumbo

Chair

Dr Isilda Nhantumbo (Chair) holds a PhD in Natural Resources Management from the University of Edinburgh. She is currently providing consulting services to FAO as Senior Forest Concession Specialist leading the reform of the forest concessions in Mozambique to promote sustainable forest management, value addition and zero waste. Having started her career as a Lecturer at Eduardo Mondlane University in Forestry Economics and Management, Isilda moved to embrace conservation and development as a Country Programme Coordinator of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), then led the Forest Team at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) as Senior Researcher. An experienced consultant to various national, multilateral and development agencies, and with experience of work across Africa and in Latin America and Asia, the core of Isilda’s work is protection of rights and inclusion of communities in natural resources management, promotion of responsible, viable and sustainable businesses that contribute to climate change mitigation (through REDD+) and adaptation.
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Martinus Ruijten

Logistics

Martinus Ruijten is a business economist with over 30 years of experience in the non-profit development sector in Africa. Starting as a financial and operational manager of country programs; midway his career, he made the shift to management of livelihood improvement projects, with a special interest in helping Inclusive Businesses integrate poor communities in agricultural value chains. Martinus has worked in senior capacity in international development organizations including SNV, and leading development consulting companies. His passion for honey – both as a food and as a typical product of small farmers – brought him on the path of Andrew and Milagre, over a decade ago, and we have been working together ever since. As a board member, he is keeping an eye on the finances of the foundation and the companies.
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Lola López

conservationist

Lola López is a Mozambican conservationist with over 20 years of experience working on human rights issues. She’s been on the front line of peace building efforts in Sierra Leone, worked with Palestinian refugees and supported several development programmes mainly in governance, justice and gender equality. During the peak of the elephant poaching crisis in Mozambique, Lola turned her focus to conservation and joined Wildlife Conservation Society to support ANAC disrupt illegal wildlife trafficking networks operating in Mozambique. Lola is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Luwire Wildlife Conservancy, the oldest private concession of the Niassa Special Reserve. She has a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Law and a Masters in International Law and International Relations.
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Dr Sandy Ochojna

representing micaia uk

Dr Sandy Ochojna (see below) – To assist in strategic governance of the Micaia ‘family’, the Chair of the Micaia UK Board sits on the Foundation Board, and the Chair of the Foundation Board is a trustee of the Micaia UK charity

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Nícia Givá

Agronomist

Nícia Givá is an agronomist with a PhD in Environmental Communication (SLU, Uppsala, Sweden) and MSc in Education and Training for Development (Reading University, UK). An action researcher expert, Nícia has strong experience in qualitative methods and participatory approaches to building local community self-esteem and capability to lead their own development through engagement and facilitated dialogue with multiple stakeholders for collective exploration of co-management opportunities to reconcile conservation objectives and people’s livelihood needs. She works as Researcher and lecturer at Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering (FAEF), Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), and course director for the MSc Program in Rural Development. For the last 20 years, she has been working on community-based participatory development projects, farming systems and technologies adoption, gender equity and empowerment, problem-solving oriented agricultural curriculum design, institutional and networking analysis. From 2012, as part of her PhD research project, she expanded her research scope to environmental governance, governance of protected areas, communication and sustainable development in conservation and rural livelihoods nexus.
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Quisito Bastos

entrepreneur

With a Master’s degree in Business Management, Quisito Bastos is the co-founder and managing partner of AgriSocius Lda, a social and inclusive company whose mission is to unlock the economic potential of small producers by providing them with the inputs and related services to increase production and family income. He is very familiar with the agricultural sector and passionate about the family sector in Mozambique. He has managed several projects which, in partnership with the private sector and international donors such as USAID, AGRA and DFID, have helped to increase the income of small farmers. His professional background includes a stint at the Micaia Foundation itself in 2011/2013, managing an agricultural marketing project focused on small producers, which gave him the opportunity to learn more about the mission, vision and values of the MICAIA family.

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Eco-Micaia

Eco-Micaia Board of Directors

Andrew Kingman

Co-founders of Micaia

Andrew Kingman is a development practitioner with more than 30 years of experience of supporting and investing in community livelihoods and social businesses in Africa, along with a decade of involvement in philanthropy, social investment and civil society support in eastern Europe and central Asia. Trained in politics, economics and international development, Andrew’s interests have steadily coalesced around exploring how to transform rural value chains in ways that enable suppliers, producers, and workers to improve their livelihoods, claim more power, and have a greater collective voice and a real stake in businesses they supply. At the end of 2007, Andrew moved to Mozambique as co-founder of the Micaia ‘family’. Andrew’s responsibilities have been broad, including programme design, strategic planning, board development, fund raising and practical work in the field. As Managing Director of Eco-MICAIA Ltd, the principal responsibility is to build the business strategy for the company, with a key focus on natural products, eco-tourism and associated services, and provide management services to Micaia’s portfolio of inclusive businesses (Mozambique Honey Company Ltd, Baobab Products Mozambique Ltd, and NDZOU Camp Ltd) while leading development of new products and market opportunities.
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Milagre Nuvunga

Co-founders of Micaia

Milagre Nuvunga has been working on different issues related to environment and community development for 40 years. Having trained as a forester, Milagre’s career includes 15 years in government including positions as Forest Research Director, National Director for Forestry and Wildlife and National Director for Natural Resources Management. She also worked as a Program Officer – Sustainable Energy and Environment Division at UNDP in New York, and Program Officer – Environment and Community Development at the Ford Foundation’s office in East Africa. Milagre Nuvunga is the co-founder of the Micaia family of institutions comprising a Mozambican foundation (Fundacao Micaia), a social enterprise (Eco Micaia Ltd.), and 3 inclusive businesses on tourism, honey and baobab value chains (Ndzou Camp, Mozambique Honey Company and Baobab Products Mozambique respectively), as well as a UK based charity (Micaia UK) run by a volunteer board. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation. Her main professional interests are the development of approaches to strengthening community access and control over land and the natural resources that support local livelihoods and ensuring women’s powerful engagement in decision making processes on issues that have an impact on their life and wellbeing. She is currently exploring governance arrangements that will bring communities and other actors (government/private sector) to adopt sustainable landscape development principles and inclusive business approaches, seeking a balance between conservation and local development objectives.
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Martinus Ruijten

Representing Micaia Foundation

Martinus Ruijten is a business economist with over 30 years of experience in the non-profit development sector in Africa. Starting as a financial and operational manager of country programs; midway his career, he made the shift to management of livelihood improvement projects, with a special interest in helping Inclusive Businesses integrate poor communities in agricultural value chains. Martinus has worked in senior capacity in international development organizations including SNV, and leading development consulting companies. His passion for honey – both as a food and as a typical product of small farmers – brought him on the path of Andrew and Milagre, over a decade ago, and we have been working together ever since. As a board member, he is keeping an eye on the finances of the foundation and the companies.
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Dr Sandy Ochojna

Representing Micaia UK

Dr Sandy Ochojna was born in the Scottish Borders in 1947 and has two degrees (MA in Economics and PhD in social history) from Edinburgh University. His career has revolved around social research, marketing and consultancy, working at the highest levels for some of the largest public transport and market research organisations in the UK. He chairs the monthly Steering Group call with the heads of the three Micaia entities. If you feel you must know more, see: thesurveydoctor.co.uk
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Micaia UK

Micaia UK Trustees

Prof. Dan Brockington

vice Chair

Prof. Dan Brockington (Vice Chair) is an ICREA Research Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is a conservation social scientist with many years of experience working largely in East Africa, but also India, Australia and New Zealand. His books include Fortress Conservation, Nature Unbound, Celebrity and the Environment, Capitalism and Conservation, The Anthropology of Conservation NGOs and The Green Economy in the South as well as over 150 academic papers. He is one half of the conservation comedy duo Kartel Shockington and is working on a children’s trilogy called The Grimcat Conspiracies. 

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Dr Sandy Ochojna

Chair

Dr Sandy Ochojna (Chair) was born in the Scottish Borders in 1947 and has two degrees (MA in Economics and PhD in social history) from Edinburgh University. His career has revolved around social research, marketing and consultancy, working at the highest levels for some of the largest public transport and market research organisations in the UK. He chairs the monthly Steering Group call with the heads of the three Micaia entities. If you feel you must know more, see: thesurveydoctor.co.uk

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Chris Bowes

Lawyer

Chris Bowes is a lawyer and a partner in global law firm CMS where he specialises in planning and development work. Chris works for clients in both the public and private sectors. Chris’ work is focussed on regeneration and infrastructure projects in the UK. Chris has a particular interest in governance, environmental impact assessment and sustainable development. Chris visited Mozambique in 2016 to see the work of MICAIA first hand. Chris is also a trustee of the Great Academies Education Trust a multi-academy trust responsible for four schools across the boroughs of Tameside and Rochdale east of Manchester.
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Prof. Phil Woodhouse

Agricultural scientist

Prof. Phil Woodhouse worked as an agricultural scientist at the Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture’s agronomy research institute (INIA) from 1977 to 1986, focusing on soil fertility and farming systems development. After returning to the UK, he worked as an academic for more than three decades researching the governance of land and water under conditions of technological, economic and social change in sub-Saharan Africa. He is an emeritus professor of environment and development at the University of Manchester.
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Laura Gilbert

Accountant

Laura Gilbert is a CIMA qualified accountant, currently working as Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at the London School of Economics. Her early career was spent in the Banking sector but in 2008 she changed direction, studying for an MSc in Charity Finance and NGO Management at Cass Business School, before contracting at ActionAid International and Save the Children International. She joined MICAIA as UK Treasurer in 2010 and was lucky enough to visit Mozambique in 2013 to see their work on the ground in Manica
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Colin Murphy

Accountant

Colin Murphy is a Chartered Accountant (ICAS) with more than 30 years experience as an accounting professional. Colin was born in Scotland and has an MA (Hons) in Economics and Accounting from the University of Edinburgh. Colin’s experience ranges for accounting practice (small and large firms) to senior finance roles within major international organisations. His skill set and range of experience includes business analysis, financial modelling for new products, sales bidding, procurement, investment appraisals, and financial control. Colin retired from full time employment in May 2021. Colin was able to visit Mozambique in 2010 and was inspired by the work conducted there by MICAIA.

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MICAIA Foundation
PO Box 121
Chimoio, Mozambique

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