African Food Fellowship appoints Pascal Murasira as new Executive Director 

The African Food Fellowship is proud to announce Pascal Murasira as our new Executive Director, starting January 26, 2026. Pascal’s appointment is aligned with the Fellowship’s commitment to grow into a pan-African, African-led network of food systems leaders. 

Pascal is Rwandan and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. He brings a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship, technology, and systems leadership, with a proven track record of building ecosystems that connect innovators, policymakers, financiers, and farmers.  

“What excites me most about the African Food Fellowship is that it sits exactly at the intersection where Africa’s big visions and grassroots energy can finally meet in practice,” said Pascal. “The Fellowship works in the ‘missing middle’—that critical space where policies are interpreted, implemented, and translated into real change on the ground by supporting the leaders who can make that happen.” 

Pascal’s leadership philosophy emphasizes collaboration and inclusion. He defines food system leadership as “the ability to see the whole—from farm to fork to planetary boundaries—and to act in ways that shift the system towards more equity, resilience, and sustainability.” 

With a background in supporting startups and advancing technology solutions, Pascal built Africa’s largest startup hub- Norrsken Foundation in Kigali- which supports over 1,200 entrepreneurs. He is passionate about leveraging innovation to address Africa’s food challenges. He believes that investing in leadership is the ultimate gamechanger.

“Across Africa, there are excellent policies and dynamic actors on the ground. The real bottleneck is in the middle—coordination and execution. Leadership is what turns aspirations into reality,” he said.

Pascal succeeds Alex Rees who has been working in acting capacity after founding director Joos Guijt stepped down in October 2025. 

“Pascal is the perfect fit for the African Food Fellowship. He brings a strong track record in building organisations, partnerships, and ecosystems that support change-makers. He is deeply committed to systems change, to empowering leaders, and to ensuring that initiatives like the African Food Fellowship remain firmly Fellow-centric as they grow,” said Alex. 

About African Food Fellowship

The African Food Fellowship is a network of leaders in Africa working on radical change to transform food systems across the continent. We support food systems actors with world-class training, platforms, and networks, to spark collaborative action for healthy, inclusive, and sustainable food systems. The Fellowship is initiated by Wageningen University and Research and Wasafiri Consulting with support from the IKEA Foundation and Small Foundation.