Namibia Workshop SANUMARC Univeristy of Namibia, Hentiesbay 3 - 5 June 2010

Presenter Biographies

LL BIOFUELS (PTY) LTD- A QUEST FOR PARTNERSHIPS

The Lev Leviev Group of Companies have invested in an agricultural initiative in Namibia called LL Biofuels (Pty) Ltd. The company has access to some 300 000 ha of communal land in the Caprivi Region, which it plans to develop in a series of phases. The first phase consists of a 50 ha evaluation farm, aiming for a fully commercial farm of 20,000 ha by 2013. The crops include vegetables, fruit, cereals and biofuel oil producers such as Jatropha and Castor plants. The presenter will provide insight into the project, and discuss partnership opportunities.

Presented by:

Mr Ricky Lilami is the Farm Manager, Community Service Cocoordinator & Public Relations Officer at LL Biofuels (Pty) Ltd. He aims to create success through hard work, building top-producing teams/projects and transforming obstacles into achievements.

Mr Lilami has thirteen years of experience in the agricultural sector and seven of those years were spent in a senior supervisory level. He also has further experience as the vice-chairperson in the Namibian Agronomic Board. He is confident, competitive and passionate about agricultural pilot projects in Namibia and converting performance into the development and growth of Namibia, without compromising resources. To this end, he has been actively building partnerships with tribal authorities & all stakeholders in the area, aiming to succeed in uplifting rural communities through development.

Mr Lilami is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Likwama Farmers’ Co-operative Union and was the Caretaker (Acting MD) of the Likwama Farmers’ Co-operative Union (LFCU) in June-July 2002. He took over General Administration of the LFCU in November 2002 until April 2003. He was the Chairman of the Caprivi Regional Livestock Improvement Pilot Project sponsored by the Meat Board from February 1998 until December 2003. During this time he was a Board Member of the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) and then the Vice Chairman of NAB. From 2002 to 2005 he was a member of the steering committee of the Mahangu Marketing Intelligence Unit, the Draught Animal Power Acceleration Programme, the Productivity Micro Project, and the Cotton Task Team all for the NAB.

During this time he was also a member of the Agricultural Services Reform Programme Committee of the MAWARD, a board member of the National Executive Committee of NANGOF (to present), the Village Development Committee Chairman of the Muyako Development Committee, and a Federation Elder of the Kabbe District Seventh Adventist Church.