AGRA

Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna is the Head of Gender and Inclusiveness at AGRA. Sabdiyo is a Senior agriculture strategist, Programs director and Global team leader, with demonstrated track record working with inclusive sustainable agriculture, market-based solutions, value chains, gender and women’s economic empowerment; youth employment, agri-entrepreneurship SME development amongst many other strategic expertise. Her 20+ years experiences in global agriculture sector, spans across multiple geographies in Africa, Asia and Europe and leading international organisations such as AGRA, CTA, SNV and GTZ.

Until her appointment as AGRA’s Head of Gender and Inclusiveness, Sabdiyo served as a Senior Technical Adviser, Agribusiness and Value chains, at the EU funded-CTA- The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural cooperation, based in the Netherlands. Notable achievements while at CTA include the revamping of the Centre’s agribusiness strategy and shaping the agribusiness practice; designing and leading innovative programs such as CLIMARK- a market-led climatic resilience in livestock sector in the Horn of Africa which developed innovative climate resilience models such as Agri weather information services, and VALUE4HER- CTAs premier initiative aimed at strengthening women’s agribusinesses in Africa. Her work, particularly with women agribusiness, earned her excellence awards from women networks across the continent.

Prior to CTA, Sabdiyo worked in various capacities, with SNV-The Netherlands development organisation, as a global coordinator and thought leader on gender and youth in agriculture, providing intellectual leadership in strategic processes and program design, assisting country teams in understanding and interpreting strategies and programs in national contexts, developing knowledge and insights, representation and resources mobilisation. Sabdiyo also served as SNV’s senior strategist in East and Southern Africa, leading strategic planning processes, guiding expertise teams and developing quality benchmarks for effective program performance. She also served as SNV’s regional coordinator for East and Southern Africa, where she played instrumental role in the transition of country programs towards viable business units, acting as a key nexus between region and global corporate level. She also worked at GTZ as a farming systems specialist, at the early years of her career. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Agriculture Economics.