Oumar Barou Togola - Founder & Executive Chairman
Oumar has Africa running through his veins. He was born in Mali, but also spent much of his childhood in Benin, Chad and Burkina Faso. When you are from Africa you have a deep appreciation for the bounty of the soil. As well as the wellbeing of your people. Both of which put Oumar on a course to bring nutrient-rich African food to the world, at the same time giving directly back to the women farmers and communities that farm Farafena products. A partnership that grows people who grow health-giving food. Now based in Canada, Oumar’s entrepreneurial spirit coincides with his desire to give back to the communities his family lived in. Oumar’s background in business and strong family ties to Mali have been instrumental in establishing a systematic partnership with farmers at the grassroots level, as well as strong relationships with investors and partners in Canada. As founding Chairman of Farafena, he has attracted like-minded team members, all of whom believe that they, too, can put Mali on the map as the centre of African trade….and make a world of difference.
“When we share a common purpose as people, a mutual desire to bring about the betterment of lives for one and all through food and upliftment, then the light of this world begins to burn a little brighter.”
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Dylan Beechey - Co-Founder & Director of Operations
Dylan is a doer, fixer and problem solver. He has spent most of his professional career in a range of operations roles in the tech and telecom industry as well as managing small and medium size customer service teams. Dylan operates off a very simple belief: the better a social enterprise can do to improve the lives of others, the better we all do. No surprise then, that he came to co-found Farafena, which grew out of an idea rooted in a very simple concept: connect two continents through the power of healthy eating and it will lead to community upliftment. .
“Anyone can be a change-agent for betterment. We all have the same ability to do it. One voice becomes two. Two becomes four. Thousands upon thousands of people now know about Farafena and what we are about. This is the power of a singular good idea.”
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Kevin Wilson - Vice President, Value Chain
After 30 years’ immersed in project development, quality assurance and supply chain management developing people. Kevin has bought this collective acumen to bear on designing successful practical solutions across Farafena’s international operations. Throughout his career, Kevin has worked with teams in Africa, as well as the Arctic, Europe, India and Australia. The diversity of regions matches his multiplicity of experience, particularly when it comes to solving complex project deliveries.
“The food chain is like a dynamic ecosystem. Every part reliant on the system above it, and the one below it. Nowhere is this truer than right here at Farafena.”
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