Our team
Behind the TAAT Technology e-catalogs, two dedicated teams play a pivotal role: the Technology Profiling team and the AKM Services team. These teams work hand-in-hand to deliver an exceptional experience, whether you're a Decision-maker seeking innovations to transform agriculture in Africa or a Technology Provider offering cutting-edge solutions. Together, with the help of our advisors, we developed the e-catalogs and built the systems that ensure everything runs smoothly.
We also often collaborate with expert consultants to keep the technology profiles in the e-catalogs up-to-date with the latest insights on topics like economic analysis and Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion.
The ongoing work of the Technology Profiling team populates the e-catalogs with detailed but relevant and clearly expressed information about the technologies we showcase. We strive to explain technologies to those who can decide to adopt them, by presenting them in the best way possible for our audiences.
Technology Profiling – TAAT Clearinghouse (IITA)
Marie Michèle Codja
I am Marie Michèle Codja, holding an MSc in Crop Science, and I serve as a Technology Profiling Consultant at TAAT Clearinghouse. Within TAAT, my role entails sourcing technologies for our database, creating user-friendly profiles, and evaluating them using the Scaling Readiness tool. With my expertise in Crop Science, I am dedicated to utilizing technology to foster agricultural innovation and sustainability throughout Africa. Let's work together to make a difference in African agriculture!
Beata Adonon
I am Beata Adonon, a Technology Dissemination consultant at the TAAT program (Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation), holding a Master’s degree in Agronomy. As a Technology Profiler, my role includes collecting, simplifying complex information, and organizing data on agricultural technologies to power the TAAT database and e-catalogs. Drawing upon my expertise in Agronomy, I am committed to leveraging technology to drive agricultural innovation and advance sustainability across Africa.
Hardi Hinvi
I am Hardi Hinvi, a Technology Profiling Consultant at TAAT Clearinghouse, holding a Master's degree in Crop Science. My responsibility is to gather, translate, and organize data on agricultural technologies to fuel the TAAT's database and e-catalogs. With a strong background in agriculture and expertise in planning and communication, I strive to create effective and accurate digital catalogs for the private, governmental, and institutional sectors. My goal is to promote the adoption of proven and validated technologies to transform agriculture in Africa.
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Rolande Amoussou
I am Rolande Amoussou, an Agronomy Engineer with a specialization in Plant Pathology and Technology Profiling Consultant with the TAAT Clearinghouse. In my current role, I work on compiling, structuring, and interpreting data related to agricultural innovations to strengthen the TAAT database and its digital catalogs. I focus on making technical knowledge more accessible and actionable for diverse users. I am driven by the ambition to support the uptake of resilient and sustainable agricultural solutions that can effectively respond to the challenges faced across African farming systems.
Bruno Tran
I am Bruno Tran, Scaling Expert at the TAAT Clearinghouse. With my young colleagues from the Technology Profiling team, we designed the concept of the technology database and its e-catalogs and worked closely with the AKM Services team who transferred our ideas into a powerful and user-friendly system that you can access online.
Advisors
Professor Adebayo Akinola
Agro Economist Expert
I am Prof. Adebayo Akinola, Agricultural Economist and Head of Department at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, where I teach and conduct research. For over 20 years, I have applied economic analysis to value chains, seed systems, farm-level efficiency, and technology evaluation across sub-Saharan Africa. For the TAAT e-catalogs, I have conducted return-on-investment analyses of technologies to inform scaling and adoption strategies.
Dr. Béla Teeken
GenderUp Expert
I am Béla Teeken, Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Program Leader at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Cotonou, Benin. My research advances inclusive agricultural innovation through participatory and citizen-science approaches that integrate gender dynamics, market insights, and user perspectives to guide breeding for social impact. For the TAAT e-catalogs, I help strengthen the profiling of social and gender inclusion potentials of technologies and align country engagement with social impact priorities.
AKM Services
Frank Sonntag
I am Frank Sonntag, an atmospheric scientist by training, with nearly 30 years of software development experience, mostly writing custom websites with complex databases and scientific business logic at the core. In the last 20 years I have built a real-time synchronised weather database for the BBC, built numerous databases and content management systems for the digital media sector and in 2012 formed AKM Services to develop systems that help to improve the lives of smallholder farmers. At AKM Services, I have planned, implemented and run a range of specialised content management systems. I am also responsible for hosting and maintaining these systems.
Lisette Slegers
I am Lisette, user experience and interface designer at AKM Services with over 20 years' experience. After having worked for many of the big names in London, I joined forces with Frank in 2017. Although I am traditionally schooled in visual and graphic design, I started working on design and user experience of digital products and services early on in my career. Being curious about the nuts and bolts of websites I have also branched out to front-end development.
Karin Kilian
I am Karin - having my academic background in geography and biology and a genuine interest in languages, sustainability and information management, I have been supporting software development in various international development projects for many years. Within AKM Services, I am a vigilant bug tracker and a conscientious software tester, as well as AKM's dedicated translator, localizer and documentation writer. I am responsible for data scraping and online research, as well as for the technical user support.
Tom Haddon
I am Tom, developer and systems engineer. My career in IT has been a journey of constant learning and building. I started tinkering with systems early on and naturally gravitated towards Linux administration, and web application development. I enjoy the full lifecycle – from writing code, building sustainable CI pipelines, and deploying web applications to developing detailed documentation and contributing to high-level strategic planning. Familiarity with DevOps and cloud platforms (particularly Kubernetes and OpenStack) allows me to adapt and thrive in evolving tech landscapes. I'm versatile, detail-oriented, and passionate about finding efficient, effective ways to get things done technically.
Latest technologies
Dry Out the Methane. Green Up Your Harvest. Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) is an easy, low-cost water-saving method for growing rice,,. Instead of keeping the rice field continuously flooded, farmers let the field dry out for several days between irrigations. The timing is guided by a simple field water tube (often bamboo or a PVC pipe) installed in the paddy,,,. When the water level inside this tube drops to 15 cm below the soil surface, it is time to irrigate again,,,. This alternating cycle cuts water use by about 25–30%, and helps reduce methane (a powerful greenhouse gas). By using AWD, farmers save money on irrigation costs (less pumping or water fees),,, while producing the same amount of rice, making them more resilient to water scarcity,.
Rust-Resistant Wheat for a Flourishing Future The development of "Yellow Rust and Stem Rust Resistant wheat" technology is a critical response to the devastating impact of these fungal diseases on wheat production in Sub-Saharan Africa. These diseases have historically caused severe yield losses and the rapid spread of virulent strains, such as the Ug99 stem rust, has further exacerbated the problem. The introduction of rust-resistant wheat varieties, through collaborative efforts like those of ICARDA and national partners, plays a vital role in preventing disease outbreaks, safeguarding wheat crops, and ultimately enhancing food security in key wheat-producing regions.
Hatching Success, One Chick at a Time The natural incubation of hens is limited to producing 10-12 chicks per hatch, hindering the rapid expansion of poultry breeds and a dependable supply of young birds for poultry farming. Artificial hatching in semi-automatic incubators allows for the raising of day-old chicks (DOCs) within 21 days, with a successful hatching rate of 85-90% for fertilized eggs. This method saves space and reduces production costs, contributing to increased profits. Additionally, artificial hatching offers the advantage of rapid chick production, on-demand planning, and prevents the spread of parasites and diseases. The enhanced chick supply boosts egg and poultry meat consumption, resulting in higher incomes for chicken farmers.