Cedric Maforimbo
Zimbabwe
Biodiversity, Conservation and Management (MSc), 2018
Linacre College, Oxford
Funding: Louis Dreyfus-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann
Cedric holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science Honours degree specialising in Animal Science and Rangeland Management from Lupane State University in Zimbabwe (2013). He landed the post of Field Education Officer at Dambari Wildlife Trust in Zimbabwe in 2014, where for over 3 years, he coordinated an environmental education cum rural community-based biodiversity monitoring programme in the Matobo Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2015, Cedric was awarded a full scholarship funded through the British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership to undertake a Field Course in Tropical Ecology and Conservation with the Tropical Biology Association in Amani Nature Reserve, Tanzania, where he researched on the behavioural traits of silvery-cheeked hornbills. The following year, he was selected to serve as the 2016 International Visiting Wildlife Biologist with the United States Forest Service stationed on the Willamette National Forest in Oregon, United States. In this position, Cedric led teams of volunteers on pollinator surveys and bioblitzes, all as part of measurement of the success of prior meadow restoration activities on the National Forest. He also delivered conservation education talks and learning activities to schools and summer camps.
As part of the WHT Enterprise Challenge of his year at Oxford, Cedric ideated a project around the processing of a pervasive invasive alien weed into an organic, environmentally-friendly, commercial bio-pesticide, and led a vibrant team of 6 other WHT scholars in developing the business proposal. He was then selected to present the business idea at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and was endorsed for the business idea by the University of Oxford later in the same year. The resultant start-up, Weed2Pesticide, is currently preparing for trials.
On completion of his MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the University of Oxford, along with numerous short courses, Cedric joined the Louis Dreyfus Foundation where he carried out baseline, diagnostic research on smallholder farmer production and livelihoods in Zambia, designed a programme to address the highlighted challenges and conducted feasibility research on the designed programme. He then moved on to the Foundation's operations in South Africa where he carried out a mapping and selection exercise for project implementation partners.Cedric then went on to serve as Faculty in the School of Wildlife Conservation (SOWC) at the African Leadership University in Rwanda where he was involved in educating and developing ethical and entrepreneurial conservation leaders for the African continent, with an emphasis on the wildlife economy and wildlife policy. During this time, Cedric also assisted with SOWC’s wildlife economy research.
Cedric is now pursuing a PhD in Agriculture, Health and Environment with the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom on a Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (FaNSI) Scholarship. His research, which is funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Research England, aims at strengthening existing and devising new methods of harnessing pollination services for improved bean yields in smallholder farming systems in north-eastern Tanzania, where he conducts his fieldwork.
