Challenge Program Directors

Wale Adekunle is the Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP), a CGIAR program led by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). He is also FARA Director for Partnerships and Strategic Alliances, based in Accra, Ghana.
Wale started his career in agricultural research and development on a World Bank project in Nigeria in 1985, and subsequently became program coordinator. In 1998 he joined the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Wale worked on farming systems and agronomic research at IITA for about two decades. Initially his main focus was on maize and cassava, and alley farming. Later, his focus shifted to the innovation systems approach in research and development. This led to the development of the ‘innovation platform’ approach now used across the world.

Through his work, Wale created innovation platforms to enhance information and communication technology (ICT)-modulated communication. He developed a model to sustain ICT, including internet, in rural communities. Some platforms integrated farmer commodity exchanges, making them the first farmer-directed and managed commodity exchange boards in Africa. For this, Wale won the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2005.

Wale has led the SSA CP at FARA since 2007. SSA CP ensures the effectiveness of integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) through a network of researchers and other players working on multi-stakeholder projects on themes that range from productivity improvement to natural resource management, policies and markets. In 2011, SSA CP won the Africa College First Prize for food security and poverty reduction projects.

Wale has also worked with colleagues and partners of FARA to promote collaboration on African agricultural development. The Platform for African and European Partnerships on Agricultural Research and Development (PAEPARD) and the Africa/Brazil Marketplace on Agricultural Research and Development have become models for other parts of the world. The Africa/Brazil Marketplace was named the best World Bank Project in 2011.

Wale has a PhD in agronomy and post graduate awards in a number of related areas. He has published articles in refereed journals, a number of books and chapters of books. He has trained many students from across the globe and co-supervised seven MSc and PhD candidates. Wale has also been an adjunct professor of agriculture and rural development.