Recognizing the importance of agribusiness and its innovators, we acknowledge the vital role it plays. As we join in celebrating women globally, Guzakuza Africa takes pride in honoring 100 remarkable Agribusiness Women who excel in their field. Discover the stories of these distinguished individuals shaping the landscape of Agribusiness in Africa.
Achah Damaris Azaah
Damaris is an agricultural and food production engineer ,graduated from the university of Bamenda cameroon in 2017. Damaris has been into crop production and transformation since 2018, she owns a wine production enterprise in 2019, where she transforms her farm produce into finished goods ready for consumption. She farms livestock such as table birds, pigs and fish. She farms crops such as watermelon, maize, beans, yams and strawberries and fruits.
Aisha Sulaiman
Aisha Sulaiman is the CEO and founder of Royal Pearls Resources, owners of the brand Akoya foods. They make nutritious gluten free flour,spices and the food has a delicious taste when prepared. She is an impact led individual with a strong passion for creating employment, solving problems and creating impact, opportunities in the lives of women especially those in the rural communities as evidenced by the women farmers she works with at her farm in Edo State. She is also a lover of knowledge and has a certificate from Enterprise of Risk Mgt. in Ghana.
Alberta Nana Akosa
Alberta is the Founder of Agrihouse Foundation, Agrihouse Communications and Shaping Conversations Africa, and the lead initiator of all the highly impactful interventions that the organization spearheads. She is passionate and committed to making a sustainable and measurable impact within the sector, and her biggest satisfaction is to see all farmers and value chain actors happy. Over the years, she has led her organization to make significant contributions to the development of the agricultural sector in Ghana, through her advocacies, youth driven initiatives, competence-based Training programs, leadership development and market linkages interventions.
Aline Gaju
Aline is the founder of Gemini8. She owns a hydroponic strawberry farm and enjoys exploring innovative agriculture and has dedicated her career to using her voice to ensure that young women see agriculture as an exciting business venture. She advocates for youth inclusion in agriculture. The venture uses hydroponics to grow delicious strawberries in a nutrient solution mixed with water. Building a hydroponics system is expensive and complicated, that is why Germin8 locally sources all materials that go into building the system. During the construction process, they invite farmers, local engineers, and youth from RICA University to learn the process. They also document their processes for knowledge sharing with interested farmers. They currently sell their produce to female exporters, with a goal of becoming a hydroponically grown strawberry exporter themselves.
Andile Matukane
Andile is a hydroponic farmer who grows vegetables through the use of a soilless system on a rooftop in Tshwane’s CBD. Born and raised in a small town called Mkhuhlu in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, her agricultural journey started at the University of Mpumalanga which is where she obtained her diploma in plant production. She then went on to pursue a degree in plant production and a Master’s in plant pathology at the Tshwane University of Technology. Andile’s focus is on hydroponic vegetable production through the use of an extremely efficient Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system.
Angella Babirye
Angella is an Agripreneur and an accountant by profession. She runs an agribusiness company called lamalo Essentials. She won Humanitarian Global Awards’ Agribusiness initiative of the year 2023. A finalist for New Business of the Year and Best Packaging award (African women in Agribusiness Awards 2023) organized by Guzakuza. She has created more job opportunities for youths and women in Uganda as we as small holder farmers.
Anita Asantewah Appiah
Anita Appiah, founder and CEO of El-Ann Organics, has revolutionized the agribusiness industry with her commitment to purity and sustainability. Under her leadership, El-Ann Organics has emerged as a trailblazer, producing premium all-natural spices, free from additives and preservatives. Anita’s focus on ethical sourcing supports local farmers, contributing to community development. Through innovative strategies like repackaging in 10g sachets, El-Ann Organics enhances product accessibility. Anita’s vision for healthier, transparent spice consumption has elevated the Gemanit Natural brand, setting new standards in agribusiness. Her achievements exemplify a dedication to quality, community impact, and transformative contributions to the agribusiness landscape.
Anna Phosa
Anna Phosa is the founder of Dreamland piggery, a multi-million-rand family operated farm in South Africa. With an initial personal investment of US$ 100 to buy 4 pigs in 2004, Ms Phosa has successfully grown this operation to include feed production and a purchase contract from South Africa’s second largest supermarket chains, Pick n’ Pay. A small piece of land provided to her by the Department of Agriculture provided a strong boost to transition from a backyard producer to a commercial producer of pigs. Her first contract with the retailer required only the supply of 10 pigs per week. This doubled and then quintupled in just two years by 2010, valued at R25 million deal (approximately US$ 1.9 million). By 2016, Ms Phosa was contracted to supply 300-350 pigs a week, from her own farm and from other local farmers. She also secured a separate contract in 2018 to supply 50 pigs per week to MassMart, the second-largest distributor of consumer goods on the continent. Dreamland piggery employs 40 permanent staff and 10 seasonal workers, most of whom are youth from nearby farms and informal settlements.
Anta Babacar Ngom
Anta is the Executive Director of SEDIMA Group, Senegal’s leading poultry production group. Established in 1976 by her father, the Sedima Group is a vertically integrated poultry business, consisting of a feed mills, hatcheries, breeding farms and an abattoir. Anta Babacar Ngom took over the business from her father in 2009 and became Executive Director in 2016. She has since steered the company’s diversification and expansion into Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Mali. In January 2017, the company invested US$ 29 million in a highly automated processing plant, where all the activities from live-bird handling to electrical stunning, scalding, defeathering, evisceration, water chilling, and grading are carried out. Some 780 people are employed directly at the plant, which has the capacity to process up to 6,000 birds per hour, all of which are halal, to serve Senegal’s largely Muslim market. The output from the processing plant also feeds directly into two KFC restaurants in Dakar, with which Sedima has a national franchise agreement.
Atinuke Lebile
Atinuke is the Co-founder and CEO of CATO Foods, a processing company that is addressing the problem of malnutrition in . She is a nutrition ambassador and advocates for the need to consume Nutritious and healthy foods that are rich in micronutrients.
Beatrice Gakuba
Mrs. Gakuba is an internationally recognised Food Security and Nutrition expert and a Social Entrepreneur. She retired from a successful UN career to embark on promoting Women Inclusion and Financial Inclusion through Regenerative and Sustainable Agriculture. She has now built the largest network of women in Agribusiness across Africa.
Bernice Dapaah
Bernice is a Ghanaian social entrepreneur who is the founder and chief executive officer of the Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative in Kumasi.[1][2] This Initiative addresses environmental degradation through the production of bicycles using environmentally friendly resources such as bamboo.
Boatemaa Hammond
Boatemaa was recently awarded as one of the top 10 women at the Access Bank Pitchaton 2024. She is a Cofounder of Tilly’s Farm where she helps shape the corporate identity of the business. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Ghana and holds a MA in Development Communication from the GIJ. She is responsible for the company’s Porktober celebration where second cycle Agriculture students get to interact with professionals in the Agric value chain during career day events and field trips. Tilly’s Farm was in 2016 awarded as Municipal Best Pig farm in Yilo Krobo Municipality.
Catherine Krobo Edusei
Miss Catherine Krobo Edusei founded Eden Tree Limited in her native Ghana in 1997. Eden Tree produces fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables and distributes them to supermarkets in Ghana. In partnership with stakeholders, she has helped created jobs for urban farmers in Accra and the Ada area by providing them with training and education and then sourcing them as suppliers. As part of Eden Tree’s corporate social responsibility, the company donated equipment to 20 women to learn the craft of dress-making and catering to sustain themselves and their communities in the Northern and Brong-Ahafo regions of Ghana, as well as giving full and partial scholarships to the company’s own staff and their dependents.
Célia Chabi
Célia is a trained socio-psychologist who loves reading and exploring. Her passion for nutrition and healthy eating inspired her to start Kiel Bien-être. An organization whose mission is to solve the problems linked to poor diet. She is an activist and very socially committed. Célia works with the most disadvantaged in order to contribute to the improvement of their living conditions.
Charity Akotia
Charity is the CEO of Greenworth Farms. A highly diversified crop enterprise covering broad areas of roots, tubers, cereals, vegetables, plantation crops, legumes and spieces. Charity is from Agona East District of the Central Region of Ghana and has been farming for the past 30 years. She has employed a total of 277 workers, made up of 64 full-time employees and 212 casual employees.
Charity Maame Ekua Adupong
Miss Charity is the founder and CEO of Meannan Foods. She is a food processing entrepreneur who employs 32 direct employees and hundreds of indirect employees on the farm fields. She is also a trainer in the agro-business enterprise and an advocate for women’s economic empowerment. She is also an advocate of Ghana’s poultry industry by championing the Ghana Egg Campaign in 2018 and helping build Ghana’s egg standards.
Charlene Wewura Guribie
Miss Wewura Guribie is the founder of Sava Shea Company Limited in Ghana. She is creating a natural skincare brand that celebrates shea butter. She was motivated to start Save Shea when she discovered that most of the skincare products she used were full of synthetic chemicals; some of which were not even listed in the ingredients. Her skin was being soaked in a cocktail of chemicals everyday with unknown long-term effects. So she decided to start listening to her body and stopped using these products. Thereafter, she began experimenting in the kitchen making products using only natural oils and butters that she knew were safe and could be sourced sustainably.
Christabel Ofori
Christabel is the founder of Flocare Beauty. As a mother, she struggled to find good natural skincare products that would suit her baby’s dry and sensitive skin. Her ordeal birthed a business idea that is making waves in the realm of natural skincare products. Established in 2017, Flocare Beauty is a skincare brand dedicated to the well-being of babies and mothers. Inspired by the founder’s personal journey with her son’s sensitive skin, the brand is committed to addressing the unique skincare needs of infants and mothers. The Flocare brand is committed to sustainability; Flocare Beauty sources raw oils and butters from women processors in rural communities and supports mothers of premature babies by providing skincare products and essential skincare practices. Additionally, Flocare reduces food waste by procuring imperfect tomatoes and cucumbers from women farmers, providing an additional income source.
Cindy Ateng
Cindy Ateng is a medical student and CEO of Fresh Veg Agri-Business in Ghana. She faced interruptions to her education due to poverty, but despite this fact, she is achieving her goal of becoming a doctor and she’s providing her community with affordable food from her own business. The business is also linked to promoting good health & supporting sustainable development goals. By continuously working to empower women in her community, Cindy also helps them on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Debby Lawson
She is the Co-Founder of Fastizers Food and Confectionery LImited. A Nigerian based producer of cookies and snack food. She started her business with just $3 and has grown to sell in over 28 states in Nigeria with more than 200 employees.
Dorah Momanyi
Ms. Dorah is the Founder of the Nutritious Agriculture Network. She also serves as a part-time lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology where she graduated with an MSc in Food Science and Nutrition. Named among 2021 RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneur Competition winners, Dorah leads a climate smart Agro processing initiative called iPoP Africa which reclaims the sovereignty of Indigenous grains to Africa. She is a 2022 One young World Ambassador, a Bioinnovate Africa Women, Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Alumni, and a Young Woman Leader on Climate Adaptation Fellow. Dorah is also a speaker and a moderator in many areas related to the food and Agriculture nexus. Dorah is passionate about the nexus between Nutrition, Agriculture, Food Systems, and Climate Change for people and the planet and is working to contribute to ending malnutrition in all its forms.
Dorcas Lukwesa
Dorcas Lukwesa is the founder of Mobile Aquaponics, a social venture dedicated to mitigating the impact of climate change while supporting women smallholder farmers in rural areas of Nchelenge District by offering training in implementing small-scale aquaponics systems of farming constructed with locally available materials like bamboo to improve agricultural production and livelihoods under climate crisis.
Doreen Irungu
Doreen Irungu is a visionary force at Ustawi Afrika, spearheading initiatives that combat water scarcity, food insecurity, and unsustainable agriculture in Kenya’s rural, semi-arid regions. Her leadership empowers women through groundbreaking solutions like rainwater harvesting, earthen pot reservoirs, and sustainable vegetable cultivation. Utilizing microfinance, Irungu ensures access to training and resources, fostering self-sufficiency and resilience in semi-arid landscapes. Innovations like solar-powered drip irrigation and humisoil production further equip women to navigate environmental challenges. Her impactful contributions redefine agribusiness leadership, and is steering Ustawi Afrika towards sustainable and inclusive solutions.
Dr. Agnes Kalibata
Kalibata served as Rwanda’s minister of agriculture and animal resources from 2008 to 2014. Throughout her tenure, she promoted the use of science-based approaches to agriculture to increase food production and improve food security, with a focus on family farmers. She implemented policies, designed to connect farmers with neighbors and customers, as well as cooperative farming programs, and cow-sharing programs that made it easier for families to own cows.
Dr. Precious Awesome
Dr. Precious is the founder of Awesome God Agro Allied Industries Limited produces organic fertilizers for all soil and crop types as well as crop care products such as Nematicides, Insecticides, and Pesticides to encourage organic cultivation amongst farmers. The business also produces hybrid crops such as avocado pear seedlings, plantain, and banana suckers; improving crop species, resulting in high yields, and 100% disease-free crops and thus encouraging food security. Awesome God Agro Allied Industries Limited also provides consultancy services, set up and manages banana farms, and provides training on innovative planting techniques to farmers.
Edith Mpoto
Edith at one point in her life struggled to make ends meet. She started the cooperative to be able to take care of her needs, that of her family and be able to support fellow women to get on their feet. Nkhotakota Steadfast Cooperations for Youth (NS4Y) cultivates, processes, markets and supplies various agri-products namely groundnuts, rice, soft drinks (juices), which improves access to the said agricultural products to the economically disadvantaged households particularly during the lean season which is a dangerous period between planting and harvesting when job opportunities are scarce, incomes plummet, households run out of food and prices of food on the market rise while at the same time creating economic opportunities for smallholder farmers and that of the members themselves.
Edith Wheatland Akosa
Edith is the founder Rockland Farms, a poultry production company. She started the farm in 2013 with 8,000 layers. Now she runs a multiple revenue poultry farm with over 60,000 layers. She currently has 35 employees with multiple women outgrowers. Edith aim is to produce quality and affordable poultry to feed the urban population and also to continue to inspire women-owned poultry businesses.
[
Ellah Omezi
Ellah Omezi, FCIB, is the CEO of Pleroma Farms And Agri Business Limited, aka Pleroma Foods. Ellah has coached 60 women Agribusiness start-ups from 12 African countries for FREE, worked with over 250 women smallholder farmers and aggregators in five States in Nigeria. She has supported 1,000 people in the last 2 years with foodstuffs and children’s school fees.
Emi-Beth Quantson
Emi-Beth is the Founder, CEO and Chief Caffeination Officer at Kawa Moka Coffee and Packaging Company, Ghana’s leading social enterprise coffee company and roaster. She has raised over $200,000 in debt and equity investments; created over 250 jobs in coffee through farmer partnerships and employment of marginalized groups; and established Accra’s largest roastery, supplying major supermarkets and cafes across the country and internationally. Kawa Moka is a distinguished Ghanaian Coffee Company, proudly 100% women-owned, specializing in the production and packaging of artisanal small-batch roasted coffee. Kawa Moka commitment extends beyond exceptional taste to the environment, as their eco-friendly packaging not only adds aesthetic appeal but also adheres to international standards.
Esther Irine Nell
Esther is the founder of Pella Food Garden. She started the business with some other female farmers with the aim of addressing food security and creating jobs in their community. Through climate-smart aquaponics, Pella Food Garden Cooperative produces fresh vegetable and freshwater fish to support their community including two primary schools while generating revenue from sales. Combining fish culture with aquatic-based, terrestrial plant culture via aquaponics has proven to be an effective option to grow food in the drought-ravaged community.
Fatou Manneh
Fatou is the founder and of Jelmah Herbella. Jelmah Herbella processes locally grown herbs and cereals into teas, honey, herbal seasoning and baby food. Using fine blended recipes, Jelmah Herbella give customers a unique taste and health diet. Fatou works with women farmers and trains them on how to produce organic herbs on a large scale. She also encourages young girls to start growing herbs in their backyards so they can sell and earn a living.
Forget Shareka
Forget Shareka is the founder of Chashi Foods in Zimbabwe, and also a farmer, vibrant agronomic engineer, award-winning entrepreneur, environmental management, and sustainability professional. She is passionate about agribusiness, sustainable food systems, sustainability, community development, youth and women empowerment, and climate action. She is the founder and business development director for Chashi Foods, an agro-processing company committed to reducing postharvest and food losses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, she works in the Environmental, Social, and Governance field (ESG) in Telecommunications.
Fortunatha Mmari
Fortunatha Mmari, Co-founder & Managing Director of AFCO investment, a business that is improving access to nutritious flours through value addition of Pro-Vitamin A Maize and Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and contribute to achieving zero hunger by 2030, positively impacting small-holder farmers to enable them have a sustainable income from their farms. In 2018, the Company was recognized by the Tanzania Prime Minister Office, as the SME Champion in promoting access to Nutritious food in Tanzania. Additionally, AFCO was among the companies that worked with Building Nutritious food Basket (BNFB) projects, in 2017 to pilot NECs in Tanzania Market.
Freda Araba Obiri
Freda Araba OBIRI, an astute banker for the past 10 years had to finally resign to pursue passion in agribusiness. In 2020, Freda started an infant cereal processing for 3 years adding value to our local cereals and grains like corn, wheat, rice among others. With less than 300 pouches in her first year, she has grown producing 10,000pouches a year 2023. She currently has outlets in 10 out of the 16 regions of Ghana.
Funmilayo Esther Famuyiwa
Funmilayo is a zoologist turned cassava processor. After her NYSC, she started a garri factory in 2020 that creates employment for 8 older women in the community and provides them with clean well processed garri. In 2021, she secured a grant award that helped her scale her business and added more cassava food products. While doing her business, she discovered that the smallholders rural farmers lack market access. In 2022, she launched an online marketplace to help cassava farmers connect directly with potential buyers and investors.
Getrude Chambati
Getrude Chambati is a final student studying towards Bachelor of Science in Agricultural management. She is also an Agro-processing entrepreneur trading as MajestjcAfrica. She do value addition of small grains and health-related products. Her product line includes pearlmillet, finger millet, brown rice, wheat, dried vegetables, baobab pulp, tamarind, moringa makoni tea, resurrection tea among others. Getrude won an award in November 2023 in Ghana under agriculture/agribusiness student category. Getrude is playing a pivotal role in woman empowerment and the health of people in the field of Agriculture.
Hajia Salamatu Garba
Hajia Salamatu Garba is a distinguished Nigerian community development practitioner and academic. She holds a B.Sc. in Botany and an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, along with a Gender Trainers and Development Post Graduate Certificate from the University of Wolverhampton, UK. She founded the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) in 1993 while lecturing at ABU Zaria and Bayero University, Kano. Hajia Salamatu’s extensive qualifications and leadership have greatly contributed to community development initiatives across Africa, particularly in empowering women farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture. Her work continues to inspire positive change and socio-economic growth in the region.
Hauwa Abubakar Rabiu
Hauwa Rabiu Abubakar is the founder/CEO of Hawee Emporium Enterprise, a Rice processing, packaging and distribution company ,Registered with Nafdac and and the corporate affairs Commission in Nigeria, She has women in Trade and investment sponsored by the industrial training fund and we has also trained children in schools in packaging, processing and Entrepreneurship. Hauwa has won several awards from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water resources. She also won the most outstanding Igniter during her training in The Ignite Afrika Fellowship and a Diversification Award from the Women In Agribusiness Award organized by Guzakuza.
Isata Guiro
Motivated by a passion to bridge market gaps and contribute to community well being, Aisata promotes the nutritional value of indigenous crops and empowers local farmers through Amal bliss Foods. Amai Bliss Foods is an innovative agribusiness venture, that is not just providing market access but actively championing sustainable farming practices and ensuring fair competition. Aisata’s story is a testament to the transformative power of agribusiness when driven by passion, community impact and a commitment to positive change.
Israella Kafui Mansu
Israella is the founder of Mansuki Ghana Limited . She identified high rate of unemployment and lack of vocational skills training among Ghanaian youths as an opportunity to start her own business. At age 24 and an unemployed graduate, she found solutions to the developmental challenges she identified in her community. Israella researches, designs, develops, produces and commercializes quality handcrafted and natural hair and body care products for local and international sales. Israella has achieved 13 different finished products and still counting. She has received 2 Ghanaian and 2 international business awards in South Africa and Sweden.
Jacquiline Peter Ngasa
Jacquiline Peter Ngasa is a Managing Director at Asili Dairy in Arusha,Tanzania. She’s currently working as an agribusiness entrepreneur by sourcing milk from small scale holders farmers mainly women and processing the same into varied dairy products such as Yoghurt,Cultured sour milk,Ghee,Cream and Butter. She’s also a law graduate. Transforming from Law career to a role as a farmer and entrepreneur requires a unique heart to cater for risk and be diligent. She has successfully managed Asili Dairy and currently it’s impacting the lives of women farmers and youth in Arusha region to have sustainable income and livelihood.
Janet Adade
Janet Adade’s efforts in the rice value chain went beyond standards. She is an outstanding example for successful female farmers having shaped her livelihood from rice farming by making clever decisions. Having started as a humble farmer, Janet Adade as a local innovator has moved from mere cultivation of rice into value addition by processing and marketing. With her women’s group MADOWOFA she is ensuring that her peer female farmers are now generating income from different processing steps in the rice value chain.
Judith Marera
Judith is the founder and CEO of Lanforce Energy a women-led, for-profit social enterprise in the renewable energy sector. Born and raised in rural Zimbabwe she realised the challenges that women and children go through in search of firewood for cooking. Human Resource practitioner by profession, having worked for both private and the public sector. Her background supplemented with her experience at the Meteorological Services Department and the World Meteorological Organisation, urged her to find solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Judy Njogu
Judy Njogu, an accomplished leader with 15+ years of cross-sectoral experience, is the CEO and Co-Founder of VunaPay Solutions. At VunaPay, she innovates Agri-FinTech solutions, accelerating payments to 9,000 farmers through strategic partnerships with the Kenyan government, Safaricom, and KCB Bank. Previously with Oracle, Judy drove a 5x pipeline growth in Africa. As a co-founder of Sidai Concrete, she achieved $3 million in annual revenues. With a track record of exceeding targets and transformative contributions.
Kafui Adzah
Kafui is the CEO of Cookhouse GH. Cookhouse was born out of the desire to make healthy and affordable meals. Kafui is a beacon of the African Woman who wants to rise. She has proven that entrepreneurial skills is not a reserved for men.
Kawthar Alade-Idris
Kawthar, a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Consultant, founded her company in 2017 driven by a passion for creating a positive impact. Aspiring to be a Changemaker in the Food Industry, she dedicated herself to enhancing entrepreneurial skills through participation in over 15 local and international programs. One notable achievement was altering perceptions of low-quality Palm oil by packaging it attractively, earning a nomination in the 2022 Guzakuza Award.
Lahja Amakali
Lahja Amakali is a master degree holder in Food Science and Technology, a researcher and a new Food product developer. She is a Union Farms of Africa (UFA)Head Lead in Namibia. UFA is a body cooperative that’s main objective is to unite farmers in all 54 African countries and mobilising them to sell their products among themselves and international. She is responsible for organising the Namibian farmers, forms their cooperatives and sells their products in groups. She is Tony Elumelu Foundation Hub Lead for Namibia responsible to mentor and direct all the foundation alumni members in Namibia and coordinate them.
Libby Offem-Oke
She is the MD/CEO of Ebom Farms and Foods Limited, producers of Ebom Palm Oil. Ebom Farms and Foods Limited (EFFL) is a producer of EBOM PALM OIL. EFFL introduces novel and better products packaging under hygienic conditions to the distribution and consumption of palm oil. they create unique brands that meet the low income cadre without compromising the quality of packaging. EFFL is a desire to take the agro-food processing and packaging industry to the next level.
Liliane Uwintwari
Liliane is the CEO of Mahwi Tech, a firm helping smallholder farmers sell their produce at favourable prices through technology. She has also served as a business consultant for IFC/A world bank group to support SMEs and entrepreneurs to grow and make a success of their businesses.
Lily Singelengele
Lily Singelengele is An Agronomist by profession, CEO at Green Agriculture Youth Organization, Award winning entrepreneur ,Mandela Washington alumni, African Leadership Womens network pioneer and Agronomist by profession. Gayo in the past few years and currently has facilitated in building sustainable agriculture support, for community-led and youth driven communities to development projects that address issues related to chronic poverty and hunger. We continuously strive to measure our efforts to ensure our work provides the most effective, efficient support our partners need to help them reach their goals and change their lives.
Linda K. Manyeza
Linda is an Agro processor who is passionate about food preservation through dehydration using solar energy and biomass. A signatory to the South African Food Loss and Waste Voluntary Agreement. A resilient widow whose own life challenges inspired her to create better food systems to mitigate food waste and hunger in Africa. Food Masters South Africa fights against food waste and rescues fruits and vegetables from going into landfills through dehydration, they achieve this by using solar energy while imparting food preservation skills to women in rural and peri-urban communities.
Lizzy Nneka Igbine.
Lizzy started her farm in 2006 to inspire the women in her community. She started Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers Ass in 2006 with only 5 Women. Today, Lizzy can proudly say she contributed to the growth and development of Women groups and Agriculture growth in Nigeria. Lizzy Igbine has also participated in building Women Farmers clusters and supporting the development of Agribusiness in Nigeria. She is known for her efforts in supporting clusters of women Farmers. She is also part of policy review teams and policy making.
Lucy Chioma Aniagolu
Lucy Chioma Aniagolu is the founder of Agrodemy, a social enterprise startup that provides training, digital tools, and a resource marketplace for agribusiness. She is an Incubatee at the Oranger corners Program of the Government of the Netherlands. She is a Solo founder Under 25 and a faith-driven entrepreneur from Enugu Nigeria, whose hobbies are dancing, traveling, and photography.
Lydia Merrouche
Lydia MERROUCHE is the founder & CEO of Fossoul Agricole, a company producing organic fruits and vegetables. A company producing organic fruits and vegetables that includes a home delivery service that meets the demand of the expatriate community and local community in Algiers. Her commitment to the status of women in Algeria has earned her several awards, nominations and distinctions.
Mabel-Ann Akoto-Kwudzo
Mabel is the leader of Okata Farms, a company that produces and processes rice and other crops in Ghana where nearly all of the out-growers are women. She believes that farming provides a way to empower women and therefore encourages as many women as possible to engage in farming, enabling them to become financially independent and afford education for their children. When Mabel decided to farm, she realized she could do more with the women in her community. She informed the chiefs of the various villages that have wetlands for rice growing to give her the land and let the women farm the land. From this initiative, Mabel has over 3,000 female out-growers under Okata Farms.
Mabel Turkson Quarshie
Mabel is the CEO of Acquatic World Industries. A Ghanaian enterprise that deals with the production, processing and sale of fresh Tilapia and cat fish. Acquatic industries started in May 2014 with 2 cages. Today it operates 32 cages and produces 160 tons of fish per year. With six permanent staff and employs another 70 seasonal workers at harvest, Acquatic produces about 2 million fingerlings per week.
Margaret Afriyie
Margaret Afriyie is a professional public health nurse and an griprenuer. She is also a fellow, International leadership workshop for rural youth in Agriculture. She is Miss Agriculture Ghana 2019, through her farming activities she has won a lot af awards from both the Agriculture and health sector including the First Lady’s Excellence Awards in 2020 and the Ashanti Regional Nest midwife in 2020.
Martha Gaise
Martha grew up working her way through all the books she could get her hands on & setting incredible academic records in her school. Although poverty-related issues impacted her access to education anyhow Gaisie managed and today she’s the founder and CEO of a business called Healthy Choice Agro Consult. After witnessing the impact of the climate crisis on her community, she founded the business to help with the education of the children. In 2019, with the help of the Mastercard Foundation & CAMFED, she started her oyster mushroom agriculture business. She has been continuously empowering her employees through skills development, and even committing to a social project.
Maryanne Ruguru Gichanga
She is the CEO and Founder of Agritech Analytics. An organization that focuses onusing AI – Powered Technology to end hunger in Africa. AgriTech Analytics ia targeted at providing solutions to end hunger in Africa through technology and to reduce poverty amongst small holder farmers.
Mary Temu
Mary is a farmer based in the Ikungi Districe of Tanzania. She is into poultry, rice and sunflower production. As a result of the impact of climate change on a daily basis, Mary ensures she has access to drought-tolerant and high-quality seeds. She has also received training in post-harvest handling and good agricultural practices. This is not only increasing productivity, but is building her climate resilience and food security for her family and their community.
Mercy Chatyoka
Ms Mercy Chatyoka is a Food Technologist by training and experience. Mercy has at least eight years cumulative experience in the various fields of food processing technology, food manufacturing processes and quality assurance, quality and food safety management systems implementation. Using her experience as a Food Technologist she runs voluntary development work which is focused on young small holder and women farmers focused to improve household food security and livelihoods through training these groups of farmers to aim for the viable markets including export by ensuring production of quality and food safe products.
Mercy Esau
Mercy is a Malawian, a farmer, and the founder of Tilime Honey Produce Enterprise for Tilime honey brand, in honey value chain and land conservation, a chairperson for her own established bee keeping community group. Community advocate in bee keeping for social, economic and ecological benefits. Her goal is to maintain the natural environment for social, economic and ecological benefits for the local community. She is also an experienced Certified Information Systems Auditor with 15 years experience at Supreme Audit Institution of Malawi (SAI Malawi). Resource person for African Organization for Supreme audit Institution-for English speaking countries (Afrosai-E).
Millicent Abillah
Millicent Abillah is the founder of Seven Fields Enterprises, a startup in the agriculture sector farming organic products namely sunflower, chia sesame, soybeans and groundnuts. She has demonstrated her passion for healthy farm produce and has brought together small scale farmers that practice organic farming for bulk production to the market. She has provided a model farm for women farmers to learn and implement the oilseeds in their farms. Through this she has created an economic activity that is not only improving livelihoods but also providing products packed with healthy benefits to the consumers.
Miriam Nyati
Miriam Nyati is a business-savvy sustainable agriculture expert who wouldn’t let anything get in her way of obtaining a tertiary education qualification. She was the first person in her family to complete high school, afterward, she started a business selling fritters. Helping farmers with sustainable improvements and boosts in their overall harvests Miriam is an agricultural extension development officer. She has great knowledge about proper spacing, planting, fertilizer application, weeding, watering, etc.
Monica Akpene Awuku Amoako
Rev Mrs Monica Akpene Awuku Amoako is the CEO of Juberands Foods. This business has been in existence for a few years but officially regulated in 2019. Juberands Foods is into commercial milling and processing cereals, spices, paste, juices etc for sale.They do training on the job and provide job opportunities for people. Rev Monica won the best agro processor award for farmers day in the Adenta Municipality in the year 2020. As CEO she has done a lot of upgrading and the latest is a postgraduate Diploma in Agribusiness.
Monica Musonda
Corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur, Monica Musonda is the Chief Executive Officer of Java Foods, a Zambian-based food processing/FMCG company which she founded in 2012. She sought to take advantage of Zambia’s strong wheat yields, demand for more convenience foods and changing consumption patterns to make products for a young urban population. Her leadership and vision has grown Java Foods into a leading independent instant noodle manufacturer in the Southern African region, with eeZee Noodles fast becoming a leading brand in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
MS. PATRICIA SAFO
Recipient of the LIFETIME AQUACULTURE ACHIEVER AWARDS, MD. Patricia Safo has generated over 100,000 job opportunities in the emerging aquaculture sector. Beyond that, she contributes to job exposure for the disabled through the SENHUB project. As the CEO of CRYSTAL LAKE FISH LTD. in the Agribusiness sector, she not only employs individuals but also establishes a conducive work environment for citizens in Dodi and its surroundings. The company specializes in selling Catfish and Tilapia fingerlings to interested farmers. Patricia Safo’s remarkable achievements in aquaculture earned her a prestigious LIFETIME AQUACULTURE ACHIEVER award.
Mwanaisha
Mwanaisha was raised in rural Tanzania, in deeply challenging circumstances. After her parents separated when she was still young, it fell to Mwanaisha’s mother and grandmother to support the family. After her training, Mwanaisha she has reached out to more than 1,200 people across eight rural districts in Tanzania, with these numbers growing all the time. She has also introduced new eco-friendly technologies in her district that benefit people beyond their farming practices. Mwanaisha has trained more than 500 people in the use of fuel-efficient patsari stoves, helping them (women especially) reduce exposure to emissions and time spent collecting firewood.
Nafisat Nasir M
She is an experienced agribusiness lecturer, cultivates rice paddy and trains fellow farmers in best practices. Actively engaged in practical farming, she also manages fish production, processing, and packaging, personally handling tasks like smoking and roasting fish. As a motivator, Nafisat has inspired numerous women in northern Nigeria to pursue education and engage in agribusiness. She has organized trade shows across Nigeria’s four zones to create markets for processors and has extended her efforts internationally with organized trade shows.
Nana Yaa Manu Adjei
She grows herbs and spices, extracts essential oils from the plants and makes cosmetics and skin care products with it. She currently has a farm that produces cinnamon,bay leaf,and nutmeg in large quantities.
Noela Ojara
A Ugandan Christian Agri-preneur, social activist, nutrition-based researcher, and innovator. Holds a masters degree of science in agribusiness management and entrepreneurship; PhD candidate of Agricultural Systems and Value-Chain Management. Founder and Managing Director of Divine Organic Foods. Member of the SBN-Uganda; National cassava taskforce ; SDG 2 Advocacy Africa Hub. An award winner of the inaugural African Food Changemakers 2023, Nominee of the GIZ Africa Agribusiness women award 2023,the only Ugandan grantee of the inaugural Value4Her AGRA grant 2022. A women committed to providing affordable, healthy, and organic nutritious foods to tackle nutrition gaps under the Amaro Foods.
Nomhle Maggie Mliswa
Employing over 300 workers and massively contributing to the national food basket, Nomhle has made strides in the agriculture business where she has become a good example of women empowerment. Being the only female farmer owning a fleet of tillage machinery/ equipment such as balers , harrows ,to mention but a few and offering the same services to farmers for efficiency in farming, she also stands as a mentor for young and new farmers. Her farm is open for schools to come and learn how to run, work and become effective in farming.
Nonny Penelope Wright
Nonny founded Lopey Inc and the Sereledi dairy brands in 2013 in Ngamiland, north western Botswana. In the short timeframe that her enterprise has been running, the resourceful agripreneur has gradually extended her venture across the value chain and subsidiary value chains into milk processing and feed production to create a sustainable and successful social enterprise. Ms Wright purchased an irrigated farm to produce high quality feed continuously. She also supplements the feed of her cows – especially during the dry seasons – with silage from her maize fields and store-bought supplies. She benefits from government-subsidized veterinary services. To foster other young Botswana women to get involved in agribusinesses, Ms Wright launched the Sereledi Young Women in Farming Competition in 2016, personally donating the winning prize of BWP 10,000.
Norah Magero
Norah Magero is a Mechanical Engineer and a Renewable Energy Expert with experience in the design and management of off-grid energy technologies. She is passionate about energy access in Africa. She has spent the past 7 years innovating decentralized solutions for use in rural communities and promoting gender inclusion and equality within the space. She is the founder of Drop Access and the project lead of the VacciBox; a portable and IoT-enabled cold chain technology that is being used to store and transport vaccines in rural and off-grid areas in Kenya.
Okoli Maryann Ogechukwu
Maryann is an agribusiness specialist and a value chain development expert. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Esomchi Foundation and Esomchi Foods, two separate organizations transforming the food systems to deliver healthy diets through a farm-table approach. Esomchi Foods have offices and factories along Ilimi International Secondary College, Federal Low Cost, Gombe State, Northeast Nigeria & No 2, Momah Str Opp Momah Plaza Off EEDC (NEPA) Office Owerri Road, Nnewi, Anambra State, Southeast, Nigeria.
OLIVIA ACHEAMPONG
Olivia, CEO of Olives Veggies, is a visionary leader in agribusiness, specializing in greenhouse vegetable production for enhanced food security. With a rich background in Monitoring and Evaluation, Agribusiness and through working with NGOs, Olivia champions quality and sustainability. She actively provides technical support to smallholder farmers and fosters experiential learning through internships for university students. Her commitment extends globally, volunteering at COP27 and World Youth Forum (Egypt). Olivia secured a Rowand 2030 scholarship and emerged as the Entrepreneurship Pitch Winner at the Association of Business Industries (Accra). Her excellence is underscored by accolades, including the Kectil Leadership Program scholarship (USA).
Olivia Kipo
Olivia is the founder of Kobaa Farms. An organic vegetable farm that uses sustainable methods to provide her community with fresh food. Olivia started her farm in response to several challenges she noticed in her community. Olivia’s sustainable climate smart business supplies three hotels, four restaurants and several households with vegetables.
Oluwaseun Sangoleye
Oluwaseun is a multiple award winning entrepreneur and an experienced Nutrition Educator and manufacturer of packaged Infant meals and snacks called Baby Grubz Nigeria, a social enterprise based in Lagos Nigeria with operations in Ghana and United Kingdom. Baby Grubz is an all-natural, healthy food social enterprise on a mission to end malnutrition in Africa by increasing access to affordable, nutritious baby food. Their meals are for children from 6 months to 5 years of age and are made from locally-sourced grains, fruits, and vegetables which are further fortified with vitamins and minerals, in line with WHO standards. Baby Grubz is actively preventing nutrition deficiencies thereby reducing childhood illnesses and improving health and school performance.
Oluyemisi Iranloye
Yemisi is the managing director and CEO of Psaltry International Limited, a large cassava processor based in south-west Nigeria, has built her success on an inclusive business model that places smallholder farmers at the centre of operations. In 2005, Yemisi Iranloye founded her cassava production company, Psaltry International Limited, with personal savings from marketing farm produce. Six years later, in response to market demand for processed cassava products, she expanded the business with the establishment of a factory in Alayide village, Oyo State.
Omiyale Abosede Hannah
She graduated from University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.She has always been a lover of agriculture from her secondary school years. After her National Youth service in 2014, she started her research on food processing.She started her food processing from her one room apartment in 2017.Despite all financial challenges, she scale through and her food processing became a household food. She started processing foods such as:Plantain flour, pounded yam flour, semolina flour, potato flour and Wheecha flour organically.
Peculiar Ngozi Okafor
Peculiar Ngozi Okafor has over 10 years experience in general agriculture, organic agriculture and agro-waste recycling. She is the co-founder/CEO of Rocksolid Organic Agro Enterprise,which is into organic farming and agro-waste recycling. She is an organic farmer and climate activist committed to producing food organically, contributing to SDGs 1,2,3 and 13. Peculiar is a youth mentor, Inspire Africa fellow, Google Hustle Academy alumni, Tony Elumelu Foundation alumni, Women in Africa Jamii Femmes fellow and YALI RLC West Africa alumni. Peculiar holds a degree, B.Agric from Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
Rakia Madougou
Rakia is happily married and the mother of 4 children. She leads a company specializing in the production and processing of local rice in her country, Niger. Rakia’s company contributes to food self-sufficiency by producing and selling rice. This initiative helps combat unemployment by employing young Nigerians, exclusively women, and also contributes to the ecosystem through plant photosynthesis.
Rethabile Qhola
Mrs. Rethabile Qhola is a founder and Managing Director of Organo-Pharma Pty Ltd and Snail farming Lesotho. With a Mechanical Engineering background and years of experience, she ventured into the sector to find solutions to skin infections. This led her to snail farming for snail-based cosmetics. She breeds quality snail mucin to create products promoting skin health. Her pioneering snail business earned recognition in the Pitso Farmers Association of Lesotho. She was a top 3 nominee in the Basotho Youth Business Award competition and a certificate recipient. She is a mentor in the Youth Business Entrepreneur Mentorship program, and UNDP.
Rokiatou Traore
Rokiatou is a visionary leader and green entrepreneur dedicated to transforming the agribusiness industry in Mali. She founded Herou Alliance with her late husband to create sustainable economic, environmental, and social impacts through an inclusive Moringa value chain. Rokiatou’s mission is to empower women and youth, combat poverty, address climate change and food insecurity. Her efforts have led to the training of nearly a hundred women, the planting of over 20,000 Moringa trees, and the export of organic Moringa products to 7 countries. She aims to establish a network of millions of women Moringa producers and plant 10 million trees by 2030.
Samkelisiwe Chunda
Samkelisiwe is the founder and director of Sibayeni Metrofarming, the business that uses technology and innovation for sustainable farming. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and Honors in Environmental Science, a Master of Business Administration MBA and a PhD candidate in Agriculture. An internationally acclaimed scientist representing women in agriculture on global platforms and affiliated with women in agriculture business globally.
Sheila Cornelius
Sheila Cornelius, a visionary leader, stands as the CEO of Lam Naturals, a prominent natural skincare brand. Under her guidance, the company has transformed the industry with eco-friendly and ethically sourced products, prioritizing personal wellness and environmental preservation. Serving as the Managing Director of Cornelius Farms, Sheila is a driving force behind the company’s dedication to sustainable agriculture, fostering innovation in farming techniques and championing organic, nutritious food production. With expertise spanning the beauty and agricultural sectors, Sheila Cornelius is committed to making a positive impact on both people’s lives and the planet through her pioneering ventures.
Sherine Mansour
Sherine Mansour is a researcher in agriculture economic, and got her B.Sc degree from Faculty of Agriculture in 1999 very good with honour, M.Sc degree ni agriculture economic from Faculty of Agriculture, Tanta university, ni the years 2004 and Ph.D degree in agriculture economic from Faculty of agriculture Cairo university in 2012. She is a researcher at DRC in department of Agricultural Economics, Division of Economic and Social Studies. Sherine is member of many research projects ni partnership with another divisions in DRC. She has also taken part actively in several international conferences organized in the field of social activities in desert area, agriculture economic, and environment. Her activities are focused on the sustainable development in the various governorates of the deserts of Egypt and the development of some agricultural techniques that may contribute to the growth of agricultural and livestock production.
Sinethemba Masinga
At the age of 15, Sinethemba became the director of the family business in the hopes of bringing fresh, innovative ideas to help the grow the business. She is a second-generation farmer from Ndwedwe, a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, and owns a 1.5-hectare farm that grows spinach, red ground nuts, tomatoes and other few crops. Currently, she employs four people and supplies two stores also serving customers who work from home, the elderly, and the disabled.
Siny Samba
Siny is the founder of Le Lionceau. She started her business to solve the problems of distinct lack of diversity of baby food on Senegal’s grocery store shelves and also to help end post harvest losses amongst smallholder farmers. Le Lionceau gives educational workshops to help parents understand nutrition and improve their babies health.
Snegugu Hadebe
S’negugu Hadebe is changing the face of farming. S’negugu is the founder and CEO of Imbewu Farmers, an agribusiness dedicated to sustainable development, especially among small-scale rural farmers. Imbewu supplies fresh produce to supermarkets, local restaurants, members of the community, street vendors, maize millers and B&Bs. The organisation offers a unique opportunity to other farmers by selling their products through its markets. She is a community activist who runs literacy programmes in her community and is a World Literacy Foundation ambassador.
Susan Kahumbu
Susan, is a passionate Social Agtech-innovator, regenerative farmer, Soil geek and Ankole breeder. She is recognized as a pioneer in the organic sector in Africa and is the CEO of Green Dreams TECH Ltd the producer of the award-winning agricultural platform iCow. iCow is an agricultural platform designed to climate proof smallholder farmers in Africa by providing farmers with access to comprehensive and verifiable best climate adaptation and mitigation practices and experts in livestock, crop and soil fertility management. To date iCow has reached approximately 2 million farmers across Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Su is championing soil health through soil microbiology and is currently building the resource and people capacity to deliver Africas first Smallholder Soil Microbiology Service.
Thokozani Amanda Chimasula
In order to respond to food insecurity in the face of climate change in Malawi, Thokozani founded Tac-Maz Sustainable Ventures. She left formal employment where she held a position in top management in her pursuit of providing affordable nutritious food to her community while empowering rural women farmers to be part of the sustainable food production systems. She holds a Masters in Business Administration and is currently pursuing an MA in DevCom, plus a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities alongside several diplomas related to agribusiness, gender and environment. She has won several awards and has participated in several fellowship programs.
Tracy Mapfumo
After losing her mum at a very young age, Tracy had to step up so she could take care of her younger siblings. THis led her to create her agribusiness Eny’s Treats to provide nutritious snacks to consumers who enjoy healthy options or have dietary restrictions like allergies. Eny’s Treats is enjoyed by many and promotes the farming of indigenous crops.#
Uju Uzo-Ojinnaka
She is the Director, Finance, Marketing and Admin at the Beniz Group Limited, where she oversees inventory procurement and management for all product categories as well as drive analysis and optimization of inventory management systems and processes to ensure world-class inventory availability. She is also the Founder and CEO of Traders of Africa (TOFA); a Pan African online marketplace for products grown, produced or manufactured in Africa ONLY and African Trade Invest (ATI), a Pan African Digital Trade and Investment platform for African trade.
Umar Fatumatu
Co Founder of FM Shea Ghana. An accountant and Agripreneur. An Igniter and a finalist at the just ended Women in agribusiness awards for Diversity and Inclusion category 2023.FM Shea Group is a community based organization that works with women, youth, and marginalized groups in underserved communities working in the Shea and Agricultural value chains. We put proper plans, policies, processes, resources, skills, and technology in place to establish sustainable, competitive, and responsible agribusiness. Our main objective is to harness the potentials of rural communities in underserved areas by utilizing local resources and knowledge for benefits.
Vanessa Aisha Limann
Vanessa Aisha Limann is the founder of Vanelim Enterprise. A business she founded immediately after school in 2017. Vanelim Enterprise is a company that uses cereal grains for health added breakfast cereal. Vanelim creates market for the off-take of cereal grains produced by local farmers, creates employment opportunities for women especially, and improves the nutritional value of locally produced cereal through value addition.
Wachong Na’amah Yeteh
Na’amah is an Agripreneur from Limbe- Cameroon. She holds a post graduate diploma in agribusiness from London Academy of professional training, a 2022 Igniter. She is also a certified Traumatologist from the Center for Trauma and Resiliency Studies USA, also a Special Educator ( M.ed in special education). She is the managing Director of Victorious Ventures- an integrated farming system that deals with the production of broilers. catfish., crops and vegetables organically in order to promote healthy feeding and good health. She is very obsessed with agribusiness as a unique way to food security and sustainable development.
Wiatta Thomas
Wiatta Thomas, a first generation Liberian-American, is the co-founder and CEO of AquaFarms Africa and an African employment and entrepreneurship expert. As the co-founder and country director of Dare to Innovate, the first and largest business incubator in Guinea, Thomas connected 15,000 youth with training, coaching, and creative investment. Thomas has invested $1.5 million in African startups. Thomas has also co-founded companies that provide solutions to obstacles for African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Her newest venture, AquaFarms Africa, is an aquaponics franchise company driven to reduce importation and democratize wealth-building opportunities for African women.
Yvette Tetteh
Renowned as the first Ghanaian to swim the length of the Volta River in Ghana, Yvette’s journey took a turn after graduating from Stanford University. Returning to her adopted hometown, Accra, she identified a growing demand for healthier snack options. One prominent concern for Yvette was the substantial export of Ghanaian-produced food, leaving the country underserved. Despite the numerous challenges she faced in running her business, she persevered and successfully established “a Ghana business run by actual Ghanaians” and envisions a promising future for Yvaya Farm. Her goals include creating more job opportunities in Ghana, building a globally recognized food brand, and, most importantly, providing accessible and locally consumed food products for Ghanaians.
