Dr James Robinson - known in the industry as 'Dr Jim' - was born in Pretoria in 1933 and qualified as a Veterinarian at Onderstepoort in 1955. He has spent all of the intervening 62 years practicing as a Vet, including over 20 years as a Consultant to all levels of the pig industry.
Jim was awarded the South African Veterinary Association Soga Medal in 2015 in recognition of exceptional community service. During his 22 years in Zimbabwe Federal Veterinary Service, he completed a DVPH Diploma (Cum Laude) and a Masters Degree in Food Hygiene from the University of Pretoria.
In 1980 he took up a Senior Lecturer post in Meat Hygiene at Onderstepoort, before joining the Premier Foods Company's’ Poultry division as National Quality Assurance Manager. He left the poultry industry in 1989 and joined the Meat Board's National Pig Health Scheme until 1996.
Lecturing in pig health and production at Medunsa and Onderstepoort followed. Dr Robinson was retired from UP in 1999 and moved to Cape Town where he developed a consulting practice with SAPPO (SA Pork Producer Organisation). He has been concentrating on the upliftment, education and mentoring of informal pig producers in the Western Cape.
He has developed a "Train the Trainers" four-day course which is accredited by the SA Veterinary Council. During his Zimbabwe career, Dr Jim developed a modified Meat Inspection Certificate for tropical conditions and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Health.
He served on the Pig Expert Committee of FAO and as an Advisor to Galvmed, the animal branch of the Gates Foundation. He later joined the Zimbabwe Cold Storage Commission as Technical Director and then Deputy General Manager. He has been an external Examiner at UP, Medunsa, NMMU and a number of technical institutes.
He has written and presented over 20 scientific articles, contributed over 100 articles in agriculture and technical publications. He is the first author of "Pigs for Profit" a popular handbook as well as being a leading participant in the welfare guidelines for poultry and pigs.