Shafiq Ahmad, Pakistan Country Manager

Shafiq Ahmad

Pakistan Country Manager

Better Cotton Initiativ

Location
Pakistan
Education
Doctorate, Agriculture, Plant Breeding and Genetic, Plant Tissue Culture
Experience
26 years, 2 months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :26 years, 2 months

Pakistan Country Manager at Better Cotton Initiativ
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • My current job since September 2013

- To lead on the development and implementation of the Pakistan Country Plan to enable delivery of BCI’s global strategy and goals.
- To establish and deliver a national embedding strategy that ensures financial viability of BCI in Pakistan and national ownership of Better Cotton.
- To oversee and strengthen the network of Implementing Partners within Pakistan.
- To ensure appropriate escalation of important risks to credibility of operations in-country.
- To provide fiscal and legal oversight of BCI as a legal entity within Pakistan with a view to building a strong organisational structure for BCI in-country.
- To take responsibility for sharing knowledge from Pakistan program implementation across BCI countries in order to build on best practice and modify country plans as required.
- To contribute as required to the development of the global programme team and building the reputation of the BCI as a leading organisation in the both textiles and sustainable agriculture sectors.
- To represent BCI in high-level national forums and ensure that BCI maintains a credible status and a solid reputation across the cotton sector.
- To lead on national policy engagement in order to embed Better Cotton and develop a sound long-term strategy for its continued growth in-country.
- To oversee income, expenditure, and associated reporting on BCI budget, ensuring efficient and effective use of financial resources nationally and as part of the wider BCI organisation.
- To oversee as required, monitoring of projects costs by Implementing Partners in close collaboration with the BCFT.
- To create a strong and cohesive BCI Pakistan team that represents the ethos and values of the organisation, and to manage them effectively in the achievement of their objectives.
- To facilitate and support matrix management within the BCI organisation across different global units to ensure coherent and effective international delivery of membership services, income generation, communications and partnerships to maintain the credibility and integrity of Better Cotton.

BCI Regional Director, Pakistan & Central Asia at Better Cotton Initiative
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • My current job since January 2019
Pakistan Regional Coordinator at Better Cotton Initiative
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • May 2010 to August 2013

-Leading BCI operation in Pakistan
-Supporting the development of, and managing the implementation of the whole Better Cotton System in Pakistan
-Contribute to the formulation of project proposals for implementation of the Better Cotton System in Pakistan
-Managing discrete budgets in relation to BCI’s engagement within the region.
-Maintaining strong and effective communication lines with the BCI Secretariat, BCI Members, and BCI Implementing Partners.
-To keep up-to-date with, and report on, significant issues arising that are relevant to the cotton sector, and the Better Cotton System, within Pakistan and the region.
-Supporting BCI’s stakeholder engagement with cotton producers, cotton farm workers, civil society, government and other organizations.
-Line management of the Pakistan Supply Chain Coordinator

Production Manager at Pioneer Pakistan Seed Limited (Pioneer Hi-Brid International, a DuPont Company)
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • May 2005 to July 2008

Major responsibility is to lead supply chain operation of Pioneer Pakistan.
Work involves planning, management and supervision of following major operations:
-Hybrid Seed production on commercial scale.
-Seed plant operation, seed drying, shelling, conditioning packing etc.
-Seed Quality Testing and Quality Assurance.
-Safe seed handling quality assurance at all stages from production fields to end user.
-As a member of Country Management Team, actively participated in business strategy development and supply management decision-making process
-Provision of Technical Trainings to Sales and Marketing Team.

Senior Research Officer at Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • August 2002 to April 2005

Maize/Sunflower breeding, parent lines seed production and genetic purity maintenance. Planning, execution and evaluation of research trials/PAT (Product Advancement Trials) and Selection of hybrids suitable to meet Pakistan’s local environmental conditions.

Biotech Manager at Monnoo Seeds (Pvt.) Limited
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • September 2001 to July 2002

Established tissue culture laboratory/production facility. To manage and efficiently run a tissue culture production facility. and commercial production of disease free micro-propagated sugarcane/potato nursery.

Quality Assurance Officer at Pioneer Pakistan Seed Limited
  • Pakistan - Lahore
  • December 1998 to August 2001

Quality Assurance at all stages of hybrid seed production, processing, conditioning, storage and in market. Planning and execution of production research trials. Seed parent lines testing- to study the adaptability, performance and behavior of different parent lines under local environmental conditions.

Scientific Officer at National Agriculture Research Centre
  • Pakistan - Islamabad
  • August 1996 to December 1998

- Planning and execution of seed production research trials.
- Seed quality testing for germination and physical purity.
- Basic research on different aspects of seed technology.
- Cross functional support in seed production.
- Helping farmers for Seed Entrepreneur Development.

Education

Doctorate, Agriculture, Plant Breeding and Genetic, Plant Tissue Culture
  • at University of Edinburgh
  • July 1996

Research Project Based Degree Scholarship: Merit Scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Education, Pakistan

Master's degree, Agriculture, Plant Breeding and Genetics
  • at University of Agriculture
  • September 1989

Merit Scholar from the University CGPA = 3.88

Bachelor's degree, Agriculture, Plant Breeding and Genetics
  • at University of Agriculture
  • December 1987

First-Class First Position in the Department 4 Year Education after Intermediate level Merit Scholarship from the Board of Intemediate and Secondary Education Multan CGPA=3.64

Specialties & Skills

Supply Chain Management
Quality Assurance
Trainers
Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture
Six-Sigma
Sustainable Agriculture Production
Quality Assurance and Quality Audits
Master Trainer
Seed Production

Languages

English
Expert
Urdu
Expert
Hindi
Intermediate

Hobbies

  • Kitchen Gardening
  • Reading