As President of AGRA, Dr. Kalibata leads the organization’s efforts with public and private partners to ensure a food secure and prosperous Africa through rapid, sustainable agricultural growth, improving the productivity and livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers.

Prior to joining AGRA in September 2014, Dr. Kalibata was Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). In this role, she was widely considered to be one of the most successful Agriculture Ministers in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Kalibata has held several other leadership positions, including Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Rwanda. She also worked for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Uganda, and various other agricultural development organizations. She sits on various boards including the International Fertilizer Development Corporation (IFDC), Bioversity International, Africa Risk Capacity, the Malabo-Montpellier Panel, and is a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum.

Dr. Kalibata has a distinguished track record as an agricultural scientist, policy maker and thought leader. She holds a doctorate in Entomology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Martin Taylor is Vice-Chairman of the Board of RTL Group. He was the former chairman of Syngenta AG and was a member of the Independent Commission on Banking chaired by Sir John Vickers.

In a career spanning the worlds of finance, industry, public policy, and journalism, he has been Chairman of WH Smith plc (1999-2003), Chief Executive Officer of Barclays plc (1993-98) and Courtaulds Textiles (1990-93). From 1999-2005 he was an adviser to Goldman Sachs International

Dr Songa is a former Agriculture Secretary in the Kenyan Government. He has an illustrious career spanning over two decades in the Kenyan national agricultural research systems, and 14 years in senior management and administration in various institutions in the agricultural sector at the national level. He has represented Kenya in various capacities in Regional, African and international agriculture sector committees and fora. He has worked with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as a Senior Research Officer from 1981 to 1997, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) in various senior capacities rising to General Manager, Phytosanitary Services between 1998-2003, Chief Executive of the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), in 2003, the Managing Director, Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA). He has authored 36 publications in refereed journals, technical reports and refereed conference proceedings. Dr. Songa also served as the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural cooperation ACP-EU in the Netherlands from 2008-2011.

He holds a BSc. in Agriculture from the University of Nairobi; MSc. in Crop Science from Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands and a PhD in Plant Pathology from University of Reading, UK.