Josephine Okot, is a graduate of Makerere University Business School, holds a Marketing Diploma from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and a Masters Degree in International Business from Washington International University. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Victoria Seeds Ltd, a full line seed company based in Kampala, Uganda that was established in January 2004 for the purpose of delivering quality seed to smallholder farmers in Uganda. Ms Okot also serves as Co-Chair of the Lake Kivu Management Committee of the Sub-Saharan African Challenge Programme of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). She has extensive experience in agribusiness and specifically in the seed sector having played a leadership role in the harmonisation of seed policies and laws in Eastern Africa championed by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) through the Eastern and Central Africa Program for Agricultural Policy Analysis (ECAPAPA). She served as the Vice Chair of the East African Seed Regional Working Group that oversaw the implementation of harmonised seed laws and regulations from 2002 to 2004. During the same period, Ms Okot spearheaded the re-organisation and strengthening of Uganda Seed Trade Association and served as Chairperson of Uganda Seed Trade Association. In 2002 Ms Okot was elected to the Board of Directors of the African Seed Trade Association to represent the interest of the emerging seed markets of Africa, a position she retired from in March 2006. Between 1998 and 2006, Ms Okot served on the Board of Directors of Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) having been seconded to give UIA private sector direction and guidance, and she was fully engaged in the establishment of Kampala Industrial and Business Park and a COMESA Common Investment Area.