Created in 2022, the African Agricultural Leadership Institute (AALI), is an independent international not-for-profit entity that provides an African perspective and voice in various services needed to accelerate Africa’s agricultural transformation, particularly among its political leaders, to women and young beneficiaries.

For many years, African agricultural development has been defined by constant paradigm shifts in response to less than expected progress. To address this, AALI intends to mobilize and leverage African expertise to

encourage African political leaders, governments, development banks and private sector investors in taking bold action and translating concrete initiatives into large-scale on-the-ground impacts that transform agriculture, creating jobs and employment for millions of African youth and wealth for tens of millions of rural households.

We believe that by engaging, involving and valuing African expertise, the challenges facing the continent can be better addressed with contextualized and adapted responses.

Success in agriculture requires strong leadership, as demonstrated in Nigeria between 2011-2015, but also in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana and Malawi.  During this period in Nigeria, with the former Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, and with strong support from the President of the Republic, Goodluck Jonathan, we proved to the world that it is possible to rapidly increase agricultural productivity. The results have been spectacular. Between 2011 and 2014, national food production increased by 21 million tons of food, which led to a sharp reduction in food imports. Nigeria’s food import bill fell from a record 3.19 trillion naira ($8.4 billion) in 2011 to 635 billion naira ($1.7 billion) in 2013, a reduction of 40.3%. Direct employment in the agriculture sector increased by 3.56 million between 2012 and 2014 because of interventions under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Agriculture had become

an exciting sector in Nigeria.

Indeed, the increase in food demand in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to grow from US$35 billion in 2015 to over US$110 billion by 2025. To achieve this, AALI believes that there is a great need to promote leadership in African agricultural development among experienced African professionals, whose numbers continue to grow and who share the perspectives and voices that can lift the many continental challenges.

This is how AALI envisions vibrant and bold African leadership, supported by experienced African agricultural professionals. This is to catalyze public and private investments, to accelerate and support the necessary agricultural transformation of Africa for the poorest households, women, and young people.

Agriculture should be seen as an activity that can substantially contribute to import substitution by stimulating economic development through market-based and private sector-led infrastructure. For this to happen, the mindset of current leaders must change at all levels to recognize that a modernized

and more resilient agriculture must drive Africa’s future economic growth. That’s why our mission is to advocate at the highest level with government officials for the right policies to promote agripreneurship among youth, women and public/private investment.