Food Security for Africa
Africa Lead II is guided by the understanding that better prioritized, designed, delivered and measured agriculture policies, programs and enterprises in Africa will lead to greater agricultural productivity and food security.
Africa Lead II is Feed the Future’s primary capacity building program in sub Saharan Africa. Feed the Future (FTF) is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. The Africa Lead program works to help realize FTF’s and the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of champions, institutions and stakeholders to develop, lead and manage the structures needed for African-led agriculture transformation.
A five-year program, Africa Lead II builds on the success of the predecessor capacity building program (Africa Lead) and works with countries and regions to develop strategic long-term activities to strengthen African decision-makers, institutions, non-state actors (NSAs), including the private sector at the forefront of increased agricultural productivity and food security.
Strategic Focus
Serving as a catalyst and connector for learning and innovations in individual leadership behavior, institutional performance and the policy process, Africa Lead II works across the following three strategic areas:
- Improved institutional capacity
- Strengthened management of policy change and alignment processes
- Enhanced capacity and engagement of NSAs, including the private sector
Africa Lead II Team
Members of the team include:
- DAI: consortium leader, project management, capacity building, technical services, capacity assessments, donor and AU liaison
- Management Systems International (MSI): institutional capacity assessments and measurement of organizational progress
- Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG): organizational and institutional development, training and capacity building
- Winrock International: gender, youth and NSAs technical support
About Africa Lead Video
Africa Lead Annual Report
Africa Lead (2010-2013)
Launch the Africa Lead (2010 – 2013) Final Report
Africa Lead II Staff
Steve Smith
Chief of Party
Aliou Boly
Deputy Chief of Party, West Africa Regional Director
James Collins
Deputy Chief of Party, East and Southern Africa Regional Director
Shannon Sarbo
Deputy Chief of Party, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director
Programs & Technical Leadership
Robert Ouma
CAADP Program Manager
Mingue Niasse
Program Manager, West Africa
Christine Sene
Program Manager, West Africa
Edwin Odhiambo
East Africa Program Manager
Hellen Kariuki
Resilience Program Manager
Andrea Chartock
Institutional Architecture Assessment Manager
Marco Noordeloos
Organizational Development & Leadership Program Manager
Erica Myrick-Thompson
Program Manager, Continental
Anne Dioh
Program Officer, West Africa
Amadou Drame
Program Officer, West Africa
Remi Adeniyi-Jones
Program Associate, Continental
Josephine Olwal
Grants Coordinator
Operations & Finance
Mercy Thairu
Finance and Operations Director, East and Southern Africa
Alain Kande
Finance and Logistics Officer, West Africa
Michael Ahere
Contracts & Procurement Manager, East & Southern Africa
Dominic Omare
Finance Manager, East & Southern Africa
Freda Mbae
Office Manager, East & Southern Africa
Mamadou Sow
Procurement Officer, West Africa
George Ngoha
Programs and Logistics Coordinator, East & Southern Africa
Loise Wagaki
Monitoring and Evaluation & Database Coordinator
Peter Wepukhulu
Finance and Admin Assistant, East & Southern Africa
Baila Talla
Office Driver, West Africa
M&E, Communications, & Knowledge Management
Thomas Wallace
Communications Director, Africa
James Ndegwa
Knowledge & ICT Manager
Alexis Curtis
Data and Information Officer
Annie DelaAkanko
Monitoring and Evaluation, West Africa
Wilma Randle
Communications Specialist