ProAgro Ethiopia team members
AGYENTA Anthony
Chief Technical Adviser (CTA)
AGYENTA Anthony is the Chief Technical Advisor for the ILO ProAgro ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ project in Ethiopia.
An Expert in the Economic sector and Enterprise Development with over 12 years of progressive international experience with the UN Group, and in post crisis economic systems stabilization in Africa, the Pacific, and Asia regions. He has worked for UNDP Country programmes on Inclusive Growth, and supported government Job Creation strategies to address poverty, peripheral marginalization, and under-investment in local value chains to bolster the informal sector growth. His major initiatives include the Climate Change Adaptation and Green Jobs strategy for Kenya’s semi-arid and pastoral regions; the transformation of seasonal migrations into Special Economic Corridors in the North and South Sudan borderlands.
He has also worked extensively on Value Chains and Quality Systems Improvement, with a focus on formalization of local SMEs in Agro-processing, Local Textiles and Garments in the ECOWAS region. He has contributed to the sub regional initiative of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for fair trade and Poverty eradication. On labour migration response, Mr. Agyenta has managed Skills and Employability programmes in Bangladesh for IOM, and in Afghanistan for UNHCR, in designing Economic Reintegration strategies for returning migrants, upskilling youth, women and refugees for job creation.
He has also worked in Public Sector Employment and Integration in Post Conflict Setting in immediate post conflict South Sudan where he served as UN Mission Liaison for the assistance to South Sudan’s civil service reintegration process from 2007-2010, focusing on Skills and Employability, and Public-Private partnerships on Decent Jobs.
In all the above, Mr. Agyenta integrates the aspects of institutional reforms, legal frameworks and mainstreaming Green and Decent Jobs, Collective Bargaining and Rights to Work indicators. He has a first degree in Public Administration and French (University of Ghana); Masters degrees in Development Innovations from the University of Bologna (major in Local Economic Systems Development); Masters in Alternative Development Strategies (Erasmus University International Institute of Social Studies-Netherlands); Executive Programme in Innovations in Governance of Economic Systems (Harvard University); and series of courses with ILO/ITC Turin on Employment and Enterprise Development. He is currently the CTA for the ILO ProAgro Project in Ethiopia, focusing on Decent Work in the Agribusiness sector. He brings skills in policy dialogues, Green Jobs, and rural livelihoods and enterprise development approaches.
Mr. Agyenta is from Ghana, and a member of the International Rotary Club, with a passion for channelling assistance to young entrepreneurs. He speaks English, French, Italian, and the languages of the countries he served (Hausa of Nigeria; Kiswahili of Kenya; Tokpisin of Papua New Guinea).
Ayalu Admass
National Project Coordinator -Employment and Skills Development
Ayalu Admass is the National Project Coordinator (NPC)-Employment and Skills Development for the BMZ Project, ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Ayalu is a development and humanitarian professional with more than 15 years of work experience in different capacities with national and international nongovernmental organizations, including the UN. Ayalu has experience on managing integrated development and humanitarian programs with a focus on labour migration; Public Employment services (PES), Protection (Child Protection (CP), Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)) and education, women and youth economic empowerment and livelihoods, as well as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and recovery programs.
In his previous role with ILO, he worked as the national project coordinator for the project on “Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Ethiopia’’ funded by EUTF. The project focused on enhancing evidence based programming on irregular migration and strengthening National public employment programs and developing youth employability services.
Prior to that, he headed Plan International Ethiopia as the Emergency Response and Recovery program lead and managed a huge portfolio of projects with diverse donors including ECHO, UNICEF, BMZ, SIDA and others.
Ayalu has postgraduate degrees in Humanitarian Aid and International Cooperation from the Kalu Institute of Humanitarian Aid Studies, Spain and Master of Social Work (MSW) from the Addis Ababa University.
Mintwab Yemane
Communications Officer
Mintwab Yemane is the Communications Officer for the BMZ Project, ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Mintwab has more than 15 years of a mix of Communications and Project Management experience within various United Nations organizations (UNECA, UNICEF, UNDP and UNOPS) at national and international levels.
In her previous role within the ILO, Mintwab developed a communication strategy for the “Free Movement of Persons and Transhumance in the IGAD Region (FMPT)” Project and led the communication efforts. She produced various publications, developed and managed content of new project website and social media account, produced short videos, engaged with media, and managed different face-to-face events organized within the IGAD region. She documented and shared knowledge on project milestones and achievements using various communications channels that greatly increased the visibility of the project internally and externally.
Prior to that, being a Communications Specialist at UNOPS H.Q., Copenhagen, she managed corporate intranet content, produced communication and visibility materials, provided web content management training to global colleagues and managed high-level events in Myanmar and Denmark.
Mintwab has M.Sc. in Multimedia Management from Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany, M.A. in Human Resources and Organizational Development and B.Sc. in Information Systems from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Mintwab is certified PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner.
Genet G.Mariam
National Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management Officer
Genet is National Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management Officer in Employment and Skills Development for the BMZ Project, ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Before joining ILO, Genet worked in Global Green Growth Institute, the Bilateral program of Ethiopia-Netherlands Effort for Food, Income and Trade, coordinated by the Wageningen University & Research, and supported by the Dutch Embassy in Ethiopia. Also, worked in Digital opportunity Trust and World Bank financed rural development programs. Driven with a lifetime passion for serving communities through development innovations and sustainable practices, Genet has more than ten years of experience in the development and implementation of integrated programs. In her role, she has been responsible for supporting the project management through building effective monitoring and evaluation systems of different thematic areas; Climate Resilient Agriculture, Food Security, Rural livelihoods, Youth and Women empowerment, Education and Business Development support programs with a demonstrated experience of program designs, Designing participatory Monitoring, evaluation and learning systems, implementing result-based monitoring approaches and executing project planning, implementation, data collection and analysis, reporting and documentation.
Genet holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master of Arts in Regional and Local development studies backed by short-term international training and courses on broader development, monitoring for impact and sustainability sectors.
Zeritu Nida
National Project Coordinator-Enterprise Development
Zeritu Nida is the National Project Coordinator for the BMZ funded Project, ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Zeritu has worked on food security and livelihood enhancement programs for more than 15 years in various capacities for international non-governmental organizations, including CARE, TechnoServe Inc., International Development Enterprise, and Save the Children.
Her work experience focuses on value chain development and market system development, promotion of on/off-farm income generating techniques, youth development programs on entrepreneurship, microenterprise, financial inclusion, and vocational and technical training.
Zeritu has master’s in development studies and BA in Business Administration from Addis Ababa University.
Henok Zewdie
Finance and Administrative Assistant
Henok Zewdie is the Finance and Administrative Assistant for the BMZ funded Project, ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Henok has been working for more than 9 years within a diverse range of Finance and Administrative functions in different organizational settings such as public service organizations, insurance, local and international NGOs and UN organizations. He was supporting the efforts of field office staff, governmental partners like Federal Ministry of Health and multilateral and bilateral agencies such as WHO, UNICEF and USAID. He has experience in office management, fleet management, guesthouse management and travel management to overseeing budgets, accounting functions, identifying operational inefficiencies and recommending improvements.
In his previous role at the United Nation Development Organization (UNDP), he was supporting the finance unit on time delivery of tasks within the standard payment-processing period; maintenance of internal expenditures control system, processes procurement and financial transactions in the system; reviewing them for accuracy of computation and completeness of supporting documentation and compliance with financial rules and regulations for certification/ approval.
Prior to that, he worked as Finance/Admin Assistant in the World Food Programme. He conducted resource planning and budgeting; tracked costs to ensure adherence to budgetary limitations; submitted timely financial and administrative reports to country offices as per schedule and financial regulations and guidelines.
Henok has a B.A degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa University and is currently enrolled in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).
Gezahegn Nigussie
Project Driver
Gezahegn Nigussie is the project driver for the BMZ funded project ‘ProAgro – Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ in Ethiopia.
Gezahegn has been working with the ILO CO Addis Ababa office since 2009 as part of different projects in his driver capacity. He supports the team with missions and performs out of office administrative tasks.
Chief Technical Adviser (CTA)
 |
An Expert in the Economic sector and Enterprise Development with over 12 years of progressive international experience with the UN Group, and in post crisis economic systems stabilization in Africa, the Pacific, and Asia regions. He has worked for UNDP Country programmes on Inclusive Growth, and supported government Job Creation strategies to address poverty, peripheral marginalization, and under-investment in local value chains to bolster the informal sector growth. His major initiatives include the Climate Change Adaptation and Green Jobs strategy for Kenya’s semi-arid and pastoral regions; the transformation of seasonal migrations into Special Economic Corridors in the North and South Sudan borderlands.
He has also worked extensively on Value Chains and Quality Systems Improvement, with a focus on formalization of local SMEs in Agro-processing, Local Textiles and Garments in the ECOWAS region. He has contributed to the sub regional initiative of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for fair trade and Poverty eradication. On labour migration response, Mr. Agyenta has managed Skills and Employability programmes in Bangladesh for IOM, and in Afghanistan for UNHCR, in designing Economic Reintegration strategies for returning migrants, upskilling youth, women and refugees for job creation.
He has also worked in Public Sector Employment and Integration in Post Conflict Setting in immediate post conflict South Sudan where he served as UN Mission Liaison for the assistance to South Sudan’s civil service reintegration process from 2007-2010, focusing on Skills and Employability, and Public-Private partnerships on Decent Jobs.
In all the above, Mr. Agyenta integrates the aspects of institutional reforms, legal frameworks and mainstreaming Green and Decent Jobs, Collective Bargaining and Rights to Work indicators. He has a first degree in Public Administration and French (University of Ghana); Masters degrees in Development Innovations from the University of Bologna (major in Local Economic Systems Development); Masters in Alternative Development Strategies (Erasmus University International Institute of Social Studies-Netherlands); Executive Programme in Innovations in Governance of Economic Systems (Harvard University); and series of courses with ILO/ITC Turin on Employment and Enterprise Development. He is currently the CTA for the ILO ProAgro Project in Ethiopia, focusing on Decent Work in the Agribusiness sector. He brings skills in policy dialogues, Green Jobs, and rural livelihoods and enterprise development approaches.
Mr. Agyenta is from Ghana, and a member of the International Rotary Club, with a passion for channelling assistance to young entrepreneurs. He speaks English, French, Italian, and the languages of the countries he served (Hausa of Nigeria; Kiswahili of Kenya; Tokpisin of Papua New Guinea).
Ayalu Admass
National Project Coordinator -Employment and Skills Development
 |
Ayalu is a development and humanitarian professional with more than 15 years of work experience in different capacities with national and international nongovernmental organizations, including the UN. Ayalu has experience on managing integrated development and humanitarian programs with a focus on labour migration; Public Employment services (PES), Protection (Child Protection (CP), Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)) and education, women and youth economic empowerment and livelihoods, as well as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and recovery programs.
In his previous role with ILO, he worked as the national project coordinator for the project on “Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Ethiopia’’ funded by EUTF. The project focused on enhancing evidence based programming on irregular migration and strengthening National public employment programs and developing youth employability services.
Prior to that, he headed Plan International Ethiopia as the Emergency Response and Recovery program lead and managed a huge portfolio of projects with diverse donors including ECHO, UNICEF, BMZ, SIDA and others.
Ayalu has postgraduate degrees in Humanitarian Aid and International Cooperation from the Kalu Institute of Humanitarian Aid Studies, Spain and Master of Social Work (MSW) from the Addis Ababa University.
Mintwab Yemane
Communications Officer
 |
Mintwab has more than 15 years of a mix of Communications and Project Management experience within various United Nations organizations (UNECA, UNICEF, UNDP and UNOPS) at national and international levels.
In her previous role within the ILO, Mintwab developed a communication strategy for the “Free Movement of Persons and Transhumance in the IGAD Region (FMPT)” Project and led the communication efforts. She produced various publications, developed and managed content of new project website and social media account, produced short videos, engaged with media, and managed different face-to-face events organized within the IGAD region. She documented and shared knowledge on project milestones and achievements using various communications channels that greatly increased the visibility of the project internally and externally.
Prior to that, being a Communications Specialist at UNOPS H.Q., Copenhagen, she managed corporate intranet content, produced communication and visibility materials, provided web content management training to global colleagues and managed high-level events in Myanmar and Denmark.
Mintwab has M.Sc. in Multimedia Management from Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany, M.A. in Human Resources and Organizational Development and B.Sc. in Information Systems from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Mintwab is certified PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner.
Genet G.Mariam
National Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management Officer
 |
Before joining ILO, Genet worked in Global Green Growth Institute, the Bilateral program of Ethiopia-Netherlands Effort for Food, Income and Trade, coordinated by the Wageningen University & Research, and supported by the Dutch Embassy in Ethiopia. Also, worked in Digital opportunity Trust and World Bank financed rural development programs. Driven with a lifetime passion for serving communities through development innovations and sustainable practices, Genet has more than ten years of experience in the development and implementation of integrated programs. In her role, she has been responsible for supporting the project management through building effective monitoring and evaluation systems of different thematic areas; Climate Resilient Agriculture, Food Security, Rural livelihoods, Youth and Women empowerment, Education and Business Development support programs with a demonstrated experience of program designs, Designing participatory Monitoring, evaluation and learning systems, implementing result-based monitoring approaches and executing project planning, implementation, data collection and analysis, reporting and documentation.
Genet holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master of Arts in Regional and Local development studies backed by short-term international training and courses on broader development, monitoring for impact and sustainability sectors.
Zeritu Nida
National Project Coordinator-Enterprise Development
 |
Zeritu has worked on food security and livelihood enhancement programs for more than 15 years in various capacities for international non-governmental organizations, including CARE, TechnoServe Inc., International Development Enterprise, and Save the Children.
Her work experience focuses on value chain development and market system development, promotion of on/off-farm income generating techniques, youth development programs on entrepreneurship, microenterprise, financial inclusion, and vocational and technical training.
Zeritu has master’s in development studies and BA in Business Administration from Addis Ababa University.
Henok Zewdie
Finance and Administrative Assistant
 |
Henok has been working for more than 9 years within a diverse range of Finance and Administrative functions in different organizational settings such as public service organizations, insurance, local and international NGOs and UN organizations. He was supporting the efforts of field office staff, governmental partners like Federal Ministry of Health and multilateral and bilateral agencies such as WHO, UNICEF and USAID. He has experience in office management, fleet management, guesthouse management and travel management to overseeing budgets, accounting functions, identifying operational inefficiencies and recommending improvements.
In his previous role at the United Nation Development Organization (UNDP), he was supporting the finance unit on time delivery of tasks within the standard payment-processing period; maintenance of internal expenditures control system, processes procurement and financial transactions in the system; reviewing them for accuracy of computation and completeness of supporting documentation and compliance with financial rules and regulations for certification/ approval.
Prior to that, he worked as Finance/Admin Assistant in the World Food Programme. He conducted resource planning and budgeting; tracked costs to ensure adherence to budgetary limitations; submitted timely financial and administrative reports to country offices as per schedule and financial regulations and guidelines.
Henok has a B.A degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa University and is currently enrolled in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).
Gezahegn Nigussie
Project Driver
 |
Gezahegn has been working with the ILO CO Addis Ababa office since 2009 as part of different projects in his driver capacity. He supports the team with missions and performs out of office administrative tasks.