EIAC 2025 Speaker Highlight: Roy Danforth and Paul Noren 2025-07-01
Roy and Paul met working on the same project in Congo in 1980 and became a team for 40+ years. Together, they have written 3 books on Agroforestry in the hot, humid tropics. Their years of working together have generated many stories to tell and practical suggestions to pass on to the younger generations during this year's conference!
Roy was born in Southern California and grew up camping and loving the outdoors, especially in rustic areas, which led to his interest in college in Biology. He and his wife got married after a year of college and were called to the mission field a few months later. They both joined the Evangelical Covenant Church and served 20 years in the DRC and 20 years in the Central African Republic/Cameroon, where they worked alongside farmers helping them with new species of beans, veggies, and fruits, along with improved farming methods. Roy is retired now, but continues to advise several other ag projects, mostly in Africa.
Paul Noren was born and raised in the Ubangi region of the DRC to missionary parents. His dad was from a farming background in Kansas and was also an outdoors sportsman, so Paul was introduced to planting things and spending time in the wild from his childhood on. Paul and his wife Sheryl went out as missionaries to the area where he grew up in 1979. Paul has worked in three countries over the past 45 years: DRC, Central African Republic, and Cameroon.
