The African Food Fellowship has initiated an Advisory Board to guide how it grows its impact and scale of operations. The seven-member board comprises three African Food Fellows from Kenya and Rwanda and four food systems leaders from Africa and beyond. The Advisory Board commenced its work in April 2023, and it will serve until 2027. The composition and structure of the board will evolve over time based on the needs of the African Food Fellowship.
The African Food Fellowship Advisory Board members are:
Lilian Ndung’u
African Food Fellow, and Ag-Tech & Policy Advisor at The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Prof. Alfred Bizoza
Agricultural Economist at The University of Rwanda
Debisi Araba
Visiting Research Fellow at The Imperial College London
Nico Janssen
Programme Manager, Agricultural Livelihoods at The Ikea Foundation
Waithera Ng'ang'a
African Food Fellow, and Marketing & Communications Director at Biofoods Ltd.
Dorothy Mukhebi
Deputy Director at The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (Award)
Esther Mukundane
African Food Fellow, and Country Director at Aspire Rwanda
“Our board comprises wonderful people. Their diverse experiences and passion for the African Food Fellowship will strengthen the quality of strategic decision-making as we seek to maximise impact and grow across the continent. Making change happen in the real-world is hard. The African Food Fellowship is delighted to have such fabulous thought and practice leaders that can help shape its future and champion the Fellowship in Rwanda, in Kenya, and across the continent.” said African Food Fellowship Deputy Director Alex Rees.
The board enables Fellows to directly influence the strategic decisions of the African Food Fellowship, encouraging accountability of the secretariat against the goals of the Fellowship, and informing significant decisions about partnerships, scale up, and functions of the African Food Fellowship. Ultimately, the board will support the Fellowship to advance a continental food systems leadership agenda fit for purpose in the 21st century.
The Fellowship is looking to strengthen its presence in Rwanda and Kenya and use the two countries as a strong foundation to support food systems leaders in other African countries in the next five years. Formulating an African dominated advisory board is a strong show of commitment by the Fellowship towards building a truly African-owned, African-led and African-wide entity in the next decade.
“Being an inaugural African Food Fellow, I am a firsthand recipient of its value in creating the next generation of African food system leaders. I hope that as a board member my experience within and outside the Fellowship will contribute to positively influence the direction and impact that the Fellowship is hoping to deliver,” said board member Lilian Ndung’u.
About the African Food Fellowship
The African Food Fellowship is building a radical movement of leaders in Africa working to transform food systems across the continent. We support food systems actors with world-class training, platforms, and networks, to spark collaborative action for healthier, fairer and regenerative food systems. The Fellowship is initiated by Wageningen University and Research and Wasafiri Consulting with support from the IKEA Foundation.
