Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo is an agriculture expert with a track record of leadership in Food/Nutrition Security, Rural Development, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Prior to his appointment as the Executive Director of FARA in 2013, Yemi was the Head of Agriculture and Food Security Division at the African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. With more than 30 years in the practice of agricultural research and development, he has served with increasing responsibilities and leadership roles in institutions with regional (1995-2006) and continental (2006-date) mandates, including twice as a Head of Diplomatic Mission. Yemi Akinbamijo took bold steps to restructure, retool and rebrand FARA in 2014-2015 in an exercise that repositioned FARA for stronger impact, relevance and alignment with the contemporary scenarios of post-Malabo Declaration. He remains a strong opinion leader who is unequivocally plugged into most of the changes happening on a continental scale within the context of the institutional reforms and their impacts on African AR4D institutions and the continent in general.
Dr. Akinbamijo is widely published in various agricultural disciplines. He is a former editor of the Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa (Peer-review Journal) and lead author of the book, Crop-livestock Integration in West African Cities. He is a former university lecturer and obtained his PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from the Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands.