Ex-IFAD president joins Agrorite board as chairman

Agrorite, an agro commodity exporter in Nigeria, has appointed Kanayo Felix Nwanze, a former president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as its board chairman.

Nwanze was the fifth president of IFAD from 2009 to 2017, and a one-time director-general at the Africa Rice Centre of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, according to a statement.

Agrorite said he had amassed over four decades of professional experience, particularly with the agricultural and social impact space, and played a vital role in the introduction and promotion of New Rice for Africa.

“I am very pleased to take on this role to join Agrorite in the pursuit of providing scalable solutions to reduce hunger in rural communities as a strategy for economic development. Agrorite will be dealing with the needs of its clients, people, and farmers in thoughtful and innovative ways which will benefit all Agrorite’s stakeholders for many years to come,” Nwanze was quoted as saying.

He is the FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador on Zero Hunger for the Africa Region, and serves on the boards of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and the CGIAR System Management Board, according to the statement.

Toyosi Ayodele, CEO of Agrorite, said: “Dr Kanayo’s long history of leadership, coupled with his experience in various agricultural sections makes him an ideal person for this role.

“I have high hopes that under your leadership, we will take Agrorite’s visions and goals to greater heights.”

Agrorite is improving the livelihood of smallholder farmers by utilising data-driven technology to ensure fair trade of agro commodities and has onboarded over 150,000 smallholder farmers, giving them access to finance, smart advisory services, and profitable market linkages, according to the statement.