When Alice Ruhweza steps into the president’s role at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, or AGRA, this March, she inherits a decade of transformative agricultural leadership by her predecessor, Agnes Kalibata. Since 2014, Kalibata has steered AGRA from fragmented, siloed agricultural interventions to a more integrated approach that bridges research, policy, and private enterprise.
Under Kalibata’s tenure, AGRA, which aims to sustainably grow Africa’s food systems, has meticulously mapped policy frameworks across countries and forged critical partnerships between public and private stakeholders. This work comes at a pivotal moment: The Food and Agriculture Organization warns that an additional 582 million people could face food insecurity by 2030, underscoring the urgency of Africa’s agricultural transformation.
For too long, groundbreaking agricultural research has languished in laboratories, disconnected from the fields where innovation truly matters. Now, as AGRA transitions leadership, the imperative is clear: Translate scientific potential into systemic, sustainable solutions for Africa’s food systems.
About the author
Ayodeji Balogun
Ayodeji Balogun is the group CEO of AFEX, where he leads a global team of experts leveraging technology, innovative finance, and inclusive agriculture to connect agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprises and smallholder farmers to commodity and financial markets. He is a global executive with a demonstrated history of driving growth and profitability in Africa’s commodities market.
