Mupangi Sithole

Male, Married, Christian, Light vehicle driver Mupangi is a seasoned agribusiness and rural development expert with strong technical & business advisory service and project managerial experience spanning more than fifteen (15) years promoting inclusive growth, food security & improved livelihoods, agro-processing, climate change resilience, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity and renewable energy use in Sub-Saharan Africa via private sector-led agricultural/agribusiness initiatives, and application of innovative financing mechanisms in ‘tough’ crisis/fragile development contexts. His past roles have allowed him to hone competences that include agri-food value chain development, regional supply chain development & trade promotion, business strategic leadership, blended finance instrument architecture, operational and business strategy formulation, resource mobilization and promoting impact investment, private sector engagement & private-public-partnerships, youth and gender inclusion, grant/loan administration, policy analysis & advocacy, project management, stakeholder capacity building & training, M&E system development, climate smart and sustainable agriculture, market linkage and market systems development, and proposal writing & business modeling. In the agricultural sector, he has worked with more than ninety (90) large corporations, small-to-medium-sized enterprises, over five hundred (500+) entrepreneurs, and over fifty (50+) civic organizations as implementing partners. Before joining the development sector, the candidate spent three (3) years on a large commercial mixed farm working as a farm manager. o Policy and Strategy Advice Development o Technical Advice to Country Programmes and Private Sector leadership o Knowledge Advisory and Leadership o Regional trade and supply chain development o Program M & E System design and roll-out o Organise & conduct Monitoring visits to project sites o Climate Investment Maps development o Agricultural SME and Entrepreneurship Development – including Business Ideation, Incubation & Acceleration o Business Development - Donor Mapping and Proposal Writing through the infusion of Access to Finance and Access-to-Market components for sustainable agricultural Program design o Value Chain Development – Analysis & Prioritization for Investment Opportunities at Sector/Households/Industry/Entity Level o Rural finance mobilization and pitching for funds (both grants and loans) o Grant/loan Management (donor compliance, loan performance management, and sub-grant administration) o Market System Development (Input, Output & Service Markets) at national & International level o Crop and livestock market inclusion for poor communities (through ownership and participation in piloting of and up-scaling business model promoting local agro-processing, out-grower & offtake markets) o Meat abattoir business model (poultry, piggery & beef) and cold chain development o Beef and Poultry abattoir comparative (operating efficiency) analyses, business & market strategy development with the export market in mind o Business & Operational Strategies for the private sector o Report Writing (financial & narrative reports for the UNDP, GEF, IFAD, USAID, UKAID, Delta Corporation, and Irish AID) o Private Sector Investment lead o National and regional policy engagement and partnership o Develop a value chain greening manual and e-course o Regenerative agriculture (Songhai Project) o Agricultural transformation and COVID-19 Recovery Finance Facility proposal writing for over 15 UNDP country offices in Africa o Food Security Analysis and Application of innovative financing mechanisms in ‘tough’ crisis/fragile development contexts o Financial inclusion (Revolving Loan Fund Schemes and Internal Savings and Lending groups) o Crosscutting Issue mainstreaming including Climate Change and Gender o Training & Capacity enhancement (Institutional, Business, Crop & livestock Husbandry, Gender, and Climate Change Issues) o Project Cycle Management (Planning, Appraisal, and Implementation) o Business Incubator and Accelerator Intervention design, e.g., UNDP Africa Lions’ Den o Knowledge Management o Infusion of Climate Change Adaptation/Mitigation Technologies in agro-project designs and business models o Policy Analysis and Advocacy (Trade & Marketing, Agricultural Gender and Climate Change) o Set up & administer Mobile Agriculture technological (ICT4D) platforms for farmer credit rating, and access to market, production, and weather information. o Agricultural Education Curriculum development o Organic & Conventional farming) – including Conservation and climate-smart agriculture o Human Resources Management o Research - Market Studies, Value Chain studies, Sector Studies & Industry Strategic Plans, Project Feasibility Studies, and Scoping Studies o Agricultural Extension Service Support Business Advisory Services (Tailor-made TA support for partners)