ECHO hires agriculture specialist from Kenya to lead East Africa Regional Impact Center

ECHO, a Southwest Florida-based international non-profit advocate for sustainable agriculture and food security, has hired a new director for its East Africa Regional Impact Center. Charei Munene, a leader in agroecology/ecological organic agriculture from Kenya, will succeed Erwin Kinsey in Tanzania.

“We’re excited to have someone of Charei’s experience as part of our leadership team,” said ECHO CEO Dr. Abram Bicksler. “His knowledge of the region and experience in the field of sustainable agriculture will be a tremendous benefit to our organization and the people we serve.”

Munene comes to ECHO with more than 10 years of experience in the African Agricultural landscape. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Botany and Zoology and a Master of Science Degree in Plant Pathology, both from Egerton University.

As director, Munene will work to expand and strengthen the capacity of the regional network to improve lives through sustainable food and agricultural strategies in East Africa. He’ll be responsible for building upon the current network by identifying, validating, sharing and measuring the success of agricultural strategies.

Prior to his hiring at ECHO, Munene was the Infonet Content Manager at Biovision Trust, where he managed the database and content as well as provided online and field training for agricultural stakeholders.

Munene also held positions at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Rootooba Limited and the Technical University of Kenya.