When Alice Ruhweza took the reins at AGRA on March 1, she stepped into an unusual mix of headwinds and tailwinds.
Donors were pulling back — the U.S. Agency for International Development among them — but AGRA still had rare breathing room: a $350 million Mastercard Foundation grant to create youth jobs and fresh support from the Green Climate Fund of $105 million to reduce post-harvest losses.
A Ugandan national who joined AGRA from the World Wide Fund for Nature, Ruhweza succeeded Agnes Kalibata after her decade at the helm of the African-led agriculture group. Founded in 2006 and backed over the years by more than $1 billion from the Gates and Rockefeller foundations and other donors, AGRA works to improve food security and the lives of farmers, with its work focused on 12 African countries. Its other backers include the United Kingdom and the United States.
About the author
Ayenat Mersie
Ayenat Mersie is a Global Development Reporter for Devex. Previously, she worked as a freelance journalist for publications such as National Geographic and Foreign Policy and as an East Africa correspondent for Reuters.
