Ms. Emiko Mutsuyoshi Managing Director, Sasakawa Africa Association
Ms. Emiko Mutsuyoshi is the Managing Director of Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), where she leads the organization’s Tokyo headquarters and offices across Africa. She provides strategic leadership to SAA’s work in strengthening farmer-centered agricultural development, institutional partnerships, and the transformation of Africa’s agrifood systems.
With more than three decades of experience in international development, Ms. Mutsuyoshi has held senior roles with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), including as Director General of JICA Tsukuba. In that role, she led the Agriculture Co-creation Hub and supported knowledge and technology transfer in agriculture and rural development for government officials and technicians from developing countries.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and a master’s degree in International Development from Cornell University.
At AASW9, Ms. Mutsuyoshi brings SAA’s four decades of experience in walking with farmers and scaling practical agricultural innovations through partnerships, capacity strengthening, and integrated agrifood systems approaches.