Dr Langelihle Simela (Langa) was appointed as Business Development Manager in the ABSA/Barclays AgriBusiness Centre of Excellence in June 2015.
Langa has served smallholder farmers for over 10 years with the National Emergent Red Meat Producers' Organisation (NERPO; 2004 - 2015) and African Farmers' Association of South Africa (AFASA; 2011 - 2015). During that period, she led organisational development of the two associations and facilitated a number of farmer development programmes. She participated in a number of regional consultancies such as the livestock sector analysis and development an investment framework for Zimbabwe, and development of support strategies and action plans for livestock associations and apex organisations in Southern Africa, for AU-IBAR.
With a PhD in Animal Science and Masters in Veterinary Tropical Diseases she managed the research efforts relating to Theme A – Production in a Resource-constrained environment in the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Well- being (IFNUW), University of Pretoria. She has served as director in a number of industry bodies and is currently a Director of Tshwabac (Tshwane Business & Agricultural Corporation). She is currently serving on the High Level Panel of Experts Project Team for Sustainable Agricultural Development for Food Security And Nutrition, Including the Role of Livestock.
Langa has published in academic journals and publications and serves on the editorial board of Small Ruminant Research (Elsevier) and the Bulletin for Animal Health and Production in Africa (BAHPA).
One of her valued accolades is being nominated an Agricultural Role Model in 2013, by the Modernising African Food Systems Consortium.
