Women at the Heart of Africa’s Agriculture: Pioneering a Food Secure Future
Women are the custodians of Africa’s agriculture, making up about 50% of the agrifood workforce on the continent. This demonstrates their dedication to tending the land and sustaining communities.
Last week in Dakar, Senegal, we witnessed two remarkable women receive a joint award for their dedication to agriculture. Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango from Kenya and Dr. Mercy Diebiru-Ojo from Nigeria won the 2025 Africa Food Prize, sponsored by AGRA. The award celebrates Africans who are driving food security, economic opportunities, and prosperity through bold leadership and innovation.
Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology is a scientist and researcher whose work has changed the perception of Africa’s indigenous vegetables. Once considered “a poor man’s food,” she has redefined them as superfoods, nutritious and capable of economically empowering farmers. Her groundbreaking research has earned her numerous accolades, including International Scientist of the Year 2002 in England, the African Union Award, the Edinburgh Medal for sustainable solutions to obesity and malnutrition in Africa, and now the 2025 Africa Food Prize Laureate.
She is not just a visionary scientist but a true change-maker. Her work has influenced policy-makers in Kenya on issues concerning indigenous vegetables. She is committed to eradicating poverty by empowering rural economies, enhancing food security, and combating malnutrition. She has also demonstrated how indigenous vegetables can be prepared to provide essential nutrients and proteins for individuals who cannot afford meat.
Dr. Mercy Diebiru-Ojo, an agricultural scientist, researcher, and cassava specialist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, manages the vegetative seed portfolio at IITA GoSeed. She is transforming cassava farming across Africa. Her innovations have delivered millions of cassava plants to farmers through Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH), a technology that produces disease-resistant plants, doubles yields, and strengthens cassava farming in Nigeria and other African countries. This advancement has significantly boosted food security and economic empowerment.
We hail these daughters of the soil who have chosen to shape the future of agriculture as guardians of nutrition and architects of transformative solutions, whose knowledge is nourishing the continent.
At Africa Farming Journal, we celebrate trailblazing scientists for redefining indigenous vegetables and cassava and their devotion and audacity to step up and ensure Africa’s food sovereignty is never overlooked. Their brilliance echoes as a call for each of us to rise in our unique ways to secure Africa’s food future while preserving our indigenous foods.