Network Partners

Fatima Ndlovu

Southern Africa Food Lab

Fatima Ndlovu is the Director of Programs at the Southern Africa Food Lab, where she leads multi-stakeholder dialogue and action learning processes that bring together farmers, policymakers, researchers, and civil society to shift food systems toward equity and sustainability. With two decades of experience in participatory facilitation and rural development across Southern and West Africa, she has designed and convened collaborative platforms that translate community-level insight into national policy. Her work emphasizes bridging the gap between grassroots food security innovation and institutional decision-making, making her a trusted convener in the Proximate Futures network.

Esther Mwaura-Muiru

Stand for Her Land Initiative

Esther Mwaura-Muiru is the Global Advocacy Director of the Stand for Her Land Initiative, a campaign housed at Landesa that secures women's land rights across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. A lifelong organizer, Esther co-founded the Groots Kenya network and has spent over twenty years building grassroots women's movements that influence land governance, agricultural policy, and climate adaptation. Her advocacy has shaped legal reforms in several African countries and elevated the visibility of women smallholder farmers in global food systems dialogues.

Daniel Moss

Agroecology Fund

Daniel Moss is Co-Director of the Agroecology Fund, a collaborative grantmaking initiative that channels resources to agroecology movements, indigenous networks, and smallholder farmer organizations worldwide. Previously, he led grantmaking strategies at the New Field Foundation and worked extensively with community foundations in West Africa. Daniel's writing and organizing have advanced the case for farmer-led research, seed sovereignty, and food sovereignty movements, and he serves as a connector between funders and grassroots food systems actors across the Global South.

Michael Ojo

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Michael Ojo is the Country Director for Nigeria at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), where he oversees programs that improve the consumption of nutritious and safe foods for vulnerable populations. A public health nutritionist by training, Michael has led large-scale fortification, biofortification, and market-based nutrition initiatives that reach millions of Nigerians. His work bridges the private sector, government, and civil society to address malnutrition through sustainable food system reform, and he is a leading voice in Nigeria's nutrition policy community.

Amadou Diallo

Sahel Food Systems Coalition

Amadou Diallo is the Regional Coordinator of the Sahel Food Systems Coalition, a multi-country platform aligning civil society, producer organizations, and governments around resilient and sovereign food systems in the Sahel and West Africa. With a background in agricultural economics and rural development, Amadou has spent over fifteen years supporting farmer organizations, pastoralist networks, and agroecology movements across the region. He is recognized for his ability to translate continental food sovereignty frameworks into national and local action.

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), where her research focuses on land tenure, natural resource governance, and gender in agriculture. A sociologist by training, she has authored influential work on collective action, property rights, and the role of women in food systems, with field research spanning Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Ruth's evidence-based approach has shaped global policy on land rights and gender-equitable agricultural development, and she is a sought-after advisor to donors and multilateral institutions.

Mariam Mayet

African Centre for Biodiversity

Mariam Mayet is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Biodiversity, a research and advocacy organization working toward food sovereignty and the defense of biodiversity in Africa. A lawyer and activist, Mariam has been at the forefront of campaigns against industrial agriculture, GMOs, and seed privatization on the continent. Her organization produces critical research and supports farmer seed networks, building alternatives to corporate-controlled food systems. She is widely regarded as one of Africa's most prominent voices on food sovereignty and agroecology.