Mary Mgonja

Mary Mgonja is a Tanzanian agricultural scientist and plant breeder, who works as the director for technology and communication at Namburi Agricultural Company Limited, a private Tanzanian agricultural enterprise.

Background and education Mgonja was born in Tanzania, where she grew up and attended school, prior to enrolling in university. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in plant breeding, and plant genetics, jointly obtained from the University of Ibadan and from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, also located in Ibadan. In her capacity as country director, Mgonja advocated for increased adoption of technology in agriculture to boost output, produce surplus products for the market and increase food security.

Other considerations Mgonja is a member of the ten-person governing board of the Africa Seeds Organization, an inter-government agency within the African Union, which is responsible for implementing the African Seed and Biotechnology Programme.

Mgonja was part of a winning team for the project Africa Bio-fortified Sorghum funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International led the development of the project in collaboration with scientists from Pioneer/DuPont, University of Missouri, and ICRISAT.

She has skills in project proposal formulation, submission and soliciting for funds from the Tanzania Breweries Ltd, International Atomic Energy Agency, Sasakawa Global 2000 and the World Bank, and the Japanese Food Aid Counterpart Fund.

She has worked on projects including the Sorghum and Millet Improvement Network Coordinator-SMINET for Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC).

She is a founder and chairperson of the Tanzania Association for Professional Women in Agriculture and Environment (TAPWAE).

Mgonja is a research network steering committee member for the Maize and Wheat Research Network (MWIRNET) and Eastern and Central Africa Maize and Wheat (ECAMAW) network.

She conducted national coordination for research on wheat and barley. She is a member of the Tanzania national variety release and registration committee.