Pathé is an Agricultural Engineer by training and Climate and Environment Expert. He has over 18 years’ experience in the field of agriculture, green finance & agri value chains development, environment, climate change and sustainable natural resource management, food systems and nutrition security, rural development and poverty reduction; rural infrastructure development; safeguards and de-risking public and private sector investments in sustainable agriculture.

In his professional career, he has occupied various technical, managerial and leadership role both at local, country, regional and global level, working across four regions in the World (Africa, South America, Central Asia and Europe). Prior to joining AGRF, Pathé was the Lead Regional Environment, Climate Specialist for West and Central Africa regional based in Rome and later in Abidjan. He also acted as Director of the IFAD Abidjan sub regional Office, Country Director Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Liberia.

Before joining IFAD, Pathe was Policy Specialist on sustainable development with UNDP Global Policy Centre on Sustainable Development based Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). He previously worked with both UNDP and UNEP as Regional Program Advisor based in Nairobi (Kenya), providing technical assistance to African Countries on mainstreaming poverty, environment and gender objectives into national development and investment frameworks. Before that, he served as Program Officer and acting Team leader with UNDP Country Office in Mauritania. Pathé’s other previous positions outside the UN include food security program and sub office manager in Afghanistan, consultant with European Union in France and Agricultural Researcher at the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute. He holds an MSc and post-graduate degree in Rural Societies, Territories, Sustainable Development and Natural Resources Management from Institut Agronomique Mediterraneen de Montpellier, France; a MSc on Agricultural Engineering from Ecole Nationale d'Agriculture de Meknes (Morocco); on Agribusiness, entrepreneurship and Gender from the Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation (Israel). Pathé speaks French, English, Portuguese, Wolof and Serer. He is married with three children.

Dickson Naftali is the Head of Generation Africa - a partnership initiative under Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF) building a stronger ecosystem to inspire and support young entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector, while onboarding young Agripreneurs to food systems, mentoring the high potential ones and linking them to support services. The initiative is hosted at AGRA and supported by 10 strategic partners.

Dickson is a market development specialist with over 20 years of relevant experience. In his previous role as Head of Program, KCB Mobi Grow - a MasterCard Foundation and KCB Group partnership program, he managed to onboard over 500K new customers previously excluded and referred to as risky. Prior to this, he spent 7 years at Techno Serve handling different roles, with the last one being a Portfolio Lead charged with giving strategic leadership and guidance to a number of Agribusiness Programs, that empowered youth-led MSMEs and smallholder farmers.

Catherine is a global communication and advocacy specialist with 14 years of experience in developing and implementing complex multistakeholder communications and advocacy strategies. She currently serves as the Senior Communications and Advocacy Officer for Africa's Food Systems Forum (AGRF), leading strategic advocacy and communication, branding and marketing, content management, event management, media relations, and reputational risk management within the AGRF Secretariat. Catherine joined AGRF from Jhpiego, where she was the Head of Communications, providing support to the Ministry of Health in Kenya in developing communication and media engagement strategies. With prior experience in the humanitarian sector and private sector roles in advertising, branding, and marketing, Catherine has worked across various countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Somalia, South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands. Catherine's leadership in user-centered design and development of compelling media, demand generation, and service delivery information, education, and communication materials earned her recognition as a 120 under 40 champion in global health.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Monash University and a Master's in International Communication Management from The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

Ariane is a passionated event manager and have been in the industry for over 12 years, she joins AGRA Team as the Events and Operations Officer in Africa Food Systems Forum.

She has successfully planned and executed a wide range of events including corporate conferences, product and office launches, weddings and galas to name the few. And this happens during her career in:

• Private Sector: where she founded An & Kabe, a company dealing in supporting investors, event management and tourism.
• International NGO: where she had a position of Event Management Professional in GIZ
• Public Sector: where she had a position of Event Manager in Rwanda Convention Bureau


She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and is currently pursuing a Masters in Development: Tourism and Cultural Heritage. Ariane speaks French, English, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi and a bit of Swahili.

Ann supports the strategic management and proactive implementation of AFS Forum, driving components of the work plan and action agenda to deliver on the Forum’s strategy and ensure it continuously strengthens its position as the premier platform for Africa’s agricultural agenda. She is the liaison with relevant internal and external stakeholders in the AFS Forum Partners Group, and a broader set of potential sponsors, technical partners, and aligned stakeholders to deliver priorities of the AFS Forum. Ann plays the primary role in building and managing partnerships with AFS Forum Partners and other stakeholders to maximize their engagement in the and in a way that is well-coordinated.

Anne works with the Managing Director and other team members to ensure thematic platforms are delivering on the multi-year strategic vision and action plans of the Forum and she is responsible in supporting ongoing resource mobilization around the platform to ensure it maximizes its impact and is fully funded. Broadly, Ann supports AFS Forum partner engagement and management to strengthen the AFS Forum partnership platform and its impact on the sector, support AFS Forum partner cultivation and resource mobilization, and responsible for AFS Forum operations and budget management.

Nadine has an extensive professional experience in the administration role of 9 years mainly in Project Management, procurement and Logistics, Office management, Event management Finance and Human Resources. Prior to joining AFS Forum, Nadine was the Administration Manager for Inkomoko Business Development where she in charge of implementation the procurement, logistic, admin and office management systems. Before joining Inkomoko Business Group, she was the senior operations officer for USAID Private Sector Driven Agricultural Growth (PSDAG) project implemented by RTI International for a period of 5 years. Prior to that, she also worked for East Africa Exchange as a Business Support Assistant for a period of 2 years. Nadine has an education background in Biology/Biotechnology.