Director, Communications & Outreach @AKADEMIYA2063 | Strategic Communications | Storyteller | Editorial Leadership | Policy Influence | Opinions are mine.

Dakar, Senegal
Joined November 2016
Layih Butake retweeted
What if a failing field could be spotted before its harvest is lost? @UduTech and @AKADEMIYA2063 experts tested satellite monitoring of 5,000+ fields in Senegal using an AI-powered system based in Africa. Now they're scaling this tech to 1 million fields: bit.ly/4dVYNWn
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Creating jobs across Africa’s agrifood systems requires investment beyond agricultural production. Storage, processing, transport, irrigation, input distribution, and other services are essential to connecting farmers to markets and expanding employment opportunities across the value chain. Policy Priority: Create an enabling environment in which public investment and private-sector capabilities reinforce one another, strengthening agrifood value chains, and expanding productive employment opportunities. The Panel recommends stronger partnerships that link smallholder farmers to processors and markets, improve rural infrastructure, and support the growth of agrifood enterprises. #JOBHARVESTS: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…
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Layih Butake retweeted
Happening Tomorrow! Join @AKADEMIYA2063 and @Welthungerhilfe (WHH), through the AgriBridge African-German Policy Network, for a webinar on Financing Africa's Agrifood Future. The session will explore the role of sovereign and nature-linked capital, and deepen the discussion on coalition-based approaches to financing agrifood systems. Learn more: akademiya2063.org/event.php?… @AKADEMIYA2063 @IFAD @GAFSPfund @_AfricanUnion @Welthungerhilfe @MakeNatureCount @ASARECA Acacia Climate Partners Limited
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Bad news travels fast. Disinformation, agenda-setting, bot farming & a 24/7 news cycle make it even easier for confirmation bias to thrive. Media & information literacy is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a survival skill. We all play a part👉lnkd.in/p/deQSEUzu #GlobalMILWeek
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Layih Butake retweeted
Africa’s food security, energy access, and climate resilience priorities are closely connected. Agrivoltaics—the integration of solar photovoltaic systems with agricultural production on the same land—offers a potential approach to addressing these priorities together. In this article, @DebisiAraba and @ChrisHegadorn examine the long-term potential of agrivoltaics in Africa: “Agrivoltaics reframes the equation. By co-locating solar generation and crop cultivation, it increases land productivity rather than dividing it.” Well-designed systems can support agricultural production while generating solar power for activities such as irrigation, cold storage, and agro-processing. Realizing this potential will require coordinated policies, clear land-use regulations, innovative financing, and meaningful community engagement. Full piece @pvmagazine: pv-magazine.com/2026/03/11/a… @AKADEMIYA2063 Consortium for Sustainable Agrivoltaics (C4SA)
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Layih Butake retweeted
A key outcome of recent #Bioeconomy workshops organized by AKADEMIYA2063 and partners was a call for a shared African perspective to inform discussions at the ongoing Global Bioeconomy Summit @GBS_Updates. Building on growing momentum, @AKADEMIYA2063, @easteco1, @icipe, and @SEIresearch, through the Partnership for Bioeconomy Advancement in Africa (PABA), have endorsed the Global Bioeconomy Partnership’s Joint Charter to advance a bioeconomy that supports human well-being, planetary health, and inclusive development. Learn more ⤵️ · Global Bioeconomy Partnership: bioeconomypartnership.com/ · Africa Bioeconomy Workshop Report: bioinnovate-africa.org/wp-co… @DebisiAraba @katringlatzel @JuliusEcuru
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Layih Butake retweeted
How can African countries translate the Kampala CAADP Declaration into national priorities, targeted investments, and measurable progress in agrifood systems transformation? @AKADEMIYA2063’s Kampala CAADP Country Diagnostics provide evidence to support @_AfricanUnion Member States in integrating the Declaration’s goals into their National Agrifood Systems Investment Plans (NASIPs). Drawing on country-level analysis, the diagnostics assess progress, identify gaps and priorities, and help inform policy choices and investment planning. Read more: akademiya2063.org/publicatio…
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Layih Butake retweeted
The Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 is underway in Dublin, Ireland, bringing together international experts and stakeholders under the theme “Bioeconomy for Socio-economic Transformation and Climate Action.” Participants will examine the policies, partnerships, and investments needed to advance sustainable bioeconomies. We’re delighted to announce that Dr. @DebisiAraba will speak today during Plenary Session 3, themed “Supercharging the Bioeconomy: Policy, Markets, and Metrics to Scale Biobased Solutions.” The session will address the gap between bioeconomy strategies and implementation, exploring how effective policies, financing mechanisms, and stronger markets can attract investment and help scale biobased solutions. Insights from the Africa Bioeconomy Workshop: bioinnovate-africa.org/wp-co… @GBS_Updates #GBS2026 #Bioeconomy
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Layih Butake retweeted
Insights from Rome! What is entrepreneurship, and how do we measure it? Does entrepreneurship count only when it succeeds, or is trying and failing part of the journey? And if failure is inevitable, can entrepreneurs fail well? How can we create the conditions that enable them to do so? These were the questions posed by Dr. @Debisi Araba, Managing Director of @AKADEMIYA2063, as he opened his remarks at the @FAO Science and Innovation Forum session on the role of entrepreneurship in accelerating food security progress. Key takeaway: Greater attention should be paid to the lessons learned throughout the entrepreneurial journey and to creating systems that enable entrepreneurs to fail well. Watch the discussion in full here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1…
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Layih Butake retweeted
Turning technological potential into impact requires stronger adoption, investment, and coordination across Africa’s agrifood systems. From AI-enabled yield forecasting and digital advisory platforms to climate-resilient seeds and precision irrigation, promising technologies are available. However, limited adoption, inadequate infrastructure, and gaps in complementary investment continue to constrain their impact. @DebisiAraba writes: “The continent does not need another wave of breakthrough inventions to transform its food systems; what it requires is a decisive shift from fragmented adoption to system-wide modernization.” Read the full piece @ipsnews: ipsnews.net/2026/09/africa-h…
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👀 What does real impact look like? 🌱 This #WorldFoodDay discover @AKADEMIYA2063 Africa Agriculture Watch. African-built tech for food security, backed by our Scale-Up program. ➡️ urls.fr/j2AqTx
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Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow. This World Food Day, we reflect on progress and pathways toward ending hunger and ensuring access to reliable, affordable, and nutritious food for all. Research by @MaMoPanel highlights the effectiveness of school feeding schemes, dietary diversification incentives, stronger safety nets, and biofortified crops in improving dietary quality, reducing food insecurity, and building human capital. Scaling up these interventions requires sustained political leadership, cross-sectoral coordination, and robust monitoring systems to track nutrition outcomes and strengthen food security. With innovation, evidence, technology, research, and local knowledge, Africa can accelerate progress toward food systems that nourish its growing population. Recipes for Success: mamopanel.org/media/uploads/…
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Ensuring access to safe & nutritious food requires innovations that boost productivity, tackle hidden hunger, improve market access & strengthen early warning systems. Explore the Food System Crisis Observatory & Response platform👇 fs-cor.org #WorldFoodDay2026
This World Food Day reminds us of a critical point: ending hunger isn't just about producing enough food. It's also about ensuring access to nutritious, safe, and affordable diets. Across Africa, this means addressing the triple burden of malnutrition: undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising diet-related diseases. @AKADEMIYA2063 contributes evidence-based policy research that draws lessons from country experiences across Africa and provides practical guidance to support implementation of the Kampala Declaration. The #RecipesforSuccess2 report examines approaches to tackling these challenges, drawing on country case studies to highlight solutions ranging from promoting diverse, nutritious foods to strengthening food safety, animal health, and social protection systems. As African countries pursue the @_AfricanUnion #KampalaDeclaration’s goal of achieving Zero Hunger by 2035, linking agricultural production to better nutrition and making healthy diets affordable will be essential. Happy World Food Day! Read Recipes for Success 2 (Ch. 5): mamopanel.org/media/uploads/…
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Layih Butake retweeted
AKADEMIYA2063 at the @FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2026! Today’s hot topic: How can entrepreneurship accelerate food security? Don’t miss Dr. @DebisiAraba, Managing Director of @AKADEMIYA2063, as he shares insights on how entrepreneurship can strengthen food security, particularly in vulnerable communities and lower-income countries where progress depends on addressing tight margins, strengthening infrastructure, and improving market conditions. The discussion will explore how agri-tech, fintech, food processing, logistics, SMEs, startups, and larger companies can deliver inclusive, measurable food security outcomes. Speakers will also examine how governments, investors, development finance institutions, and businesses can strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems and scale solutions that reach those who need them most. Tune in to Dr. Araba’s upcoming sessions: 📅 October 15 | 12:45 CEST / 10:45 GMT From Pathways to Investment Readiness Register👉🏾 world-food-forum.org/registr… 📅 October 15 | 14:00 CEST / 12:00 GMT How Can Entrepreneurship Accelerate Food Security Progress? Watch the webcast👉🏾 webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1… 📅 October 16 | 9:00 CEST / 7:00 GMT Strengthening the Evidence Base for Agricultural Science, Research, and Innovation: How ASTI Supports Agrifood Systems Transformation Learn more👉🏾 fao.org/science-technology-a…
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Agrifood systems are central to Africa’s employment challenge—but they are also a major part of the solution. The @MaMoPanel’s Job Harvests report shows how agrifood systems can generate the productive jobs needed for Africa’s rapidly growing youth population, provided the right policies are in place to accelerate transformation and ensure these jobs are productive, resilient, and inclusive. @DrOBadiane, Executive Chairperson of @AKADEMIYA2063 and Co-Chair of @MaMoPanel, joined @cnbcafrica’s Karabo Mashaba to discuss the report’s key findings and policy recommendations. 🎥 Watch the interview: cnbcafrica.com/media/7784126…
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Layih Butake retweeted
The @FAO Science and Innovation Forum brings together experts and decision-makers to explore how science, technology and innovation can accelerate agrifood systems transformation. Held under the theme “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.,” the Forum will focus on translating scientific advances into actionable knowledge for food security and sustainable development. We’re delighted to announce that @AKADEMIYA2063’s Director of Data Intelligence and Governance and National Representative for Senegal, @dr_racinely, will be speaking at the Forum: -Session 1 | Drowning in data, starving for evidence-informed decisions — exploring how evidence synthesis, AI and knowledge brokering can strengthen decision-making. -Session 2 | Tipping points, cascading risks, and limits to adaptation — examining how science can support anticipatory action and resilience in the face of growing climate risks. Follow the discussions: Session 1 - 9.00 CEST/ 7:00 GMT: fao.org/science-technology-a… Session 2 - 16.00 CEST/ 14:00 GMT: fao.org/science-technology-a…
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Layih Butake retweeted
Kampala Policy Brief Series – Issue #12! Africa’s food systems face dual nutrition challenges: widespread undernutrition and an increasing prevalence of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Food processing can help improve dietary quality and food safety, reduce postharvest losses, and create economic opportunities, particularly for women- and youth-led enterprises. Strengthening nutrition-sensitive food processing, improving food safety standards, and building stronger links between smallholder farmers and processors are important steps toward improving diets under the @_AfricanUnion #KampalaDeclaration. More insights: akademiya2063.org/publicatio…
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Disruptions to maritime routes like the Strait of Hormuz could raise input costs & limit fertilizer availability. Expanding fertilizer use, facilitating intra-African trade & strengthening distribution systems are key to closing yield gaps & building resilience to supply shocks.
How regional trade integration can strengthen Africa’s food security The 8th Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) examines the trade–food security nexus and highlights how deeper regional integration can help African countries cushion shocks, stabilize supplies and reduce exposure to global disruptions. In this article, Drs. Layih Butake (@LButake) and Sunday Odjo make the case: “Intra-African trade is both a growth opportunity and a mechanism to rebalance risk within Africa’s agri-business and food systems.” Full piece @AfricanFutures: futures.issafrica.org/blog/2…
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Layih Butake retweeted
The @FAO World Food Forum is underway in Rome, bringing together three interlinked pillars to drive agrifood systems transformation: Global Youth Action, the Science and Innovation Forum, and the Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum. @AKADEMIYA2063 is at the table! Today’s hot topic: How can young people drive Africa’s agrifood systems transformation? Dr. @DebisiAraba, Managing Director of @AKADEMIYA2063, will speak at the @FAO World Food Forum session, Leading from the Front: Africa’s Youth Driving Agrifood Systems Transformation. The session will bring together young leaders, policymakers, government representatives, financial institutions, academia, and development partners to explore how institutionalized youth engagement can strengthen participation in policymaking, advance youth-led initiatives, and foster more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems. Discussions will also examine the partnerships and sustained investment needed to scale effective approaches and ensure that young people, including young women and rural youth, help shape Africa’s food future. Policy insights on youth in agrifood systems: mamopanel.org/resources/yout…
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Layih Butake retweeted
Financing Africa’s Agrifood Future: From Coalition to Action @AKADEMIYA2063 and @Welthungerhilfe (WHH), through the AgriBridge African-German Policy Network, are convening a webinar on Financing Africa's Agrifood Future. Building on the launch of AgriBridge Policy Note #2 at @TheAGRF 2026 in Kigali, this webinar will provide an opportunity to present the note's key findings and recommendations to a broader audience and to deepen the discussion on coalition-based approaches to financing agrifood systems. Join us on Oct 27 for an insightful conversation! Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi… Learn more: akademiya2063.org/event.php?… @IFAD @IFPRI
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