Before joining the UCBC team as Agribusiness Coordinator, Subira Bonhomme new UCBC well. He recalls visiting UCBC a number of times and was drawn to the institution’s commitment to bilingual and holistic training that provided a global perspective on the environmental sciences, a field he planned to pursue passionately.

Bonhomme grew up in the Lubero territory near Lake Edward, in a village deeply rooted within the landscape and forests next to Virunga National Park. After receiving his Master of Science in Integrated Tropical Forest and Landscape Management, and completing a fellowship in agroforestry in eastern Congo, UCBC invited Subira as a visiting lecture to teach on how climate change and environmental health impacts local communities.

Now, Bonhomme applies expertise in agroforestry and value chains to develop UCBC’s agribusiness curriculum and projects that will make a lasting impact on communities throughout the region.

“I want to help UCBC make impact on the whole community in eastern Congo and even all of Congo. First thing I want to do is gather people and think about how agribusiness can be inclusive for the whole community…we see what are the opportunities, what are the challenges, what is the vision of change, so we can focus on impact and building an inclusive and profitable agribusiness for all the stakeholders in this sector,” he explained.

Though Bonhomme comes with a wealth of experience, training, and publications in agroforestry and value chain surveys, he sees UCBC as a unique institution and opportunity in Congo.

“What makes the difference between UCBC and other institutions is about the impact and the fact of being the pioneer in agribusiness, to develop the commercialization of crops that profits the local community and trains students holistically to be the leaders and the specialists to design projects that can flourish easily and that includes everyone. This will provide economics and sustainability to the communities,” Bonhomme said.

Watch Subira share more about his passion and vision for the Agribusiness program at UCBC.