Ishmael Daniso Sunga

A Zimbabwean national, he holds a BSc (Economics) degree and has post-graduate qualifications, including in MSc (Strategic Management). He has more than 30 years’ wide-ranging experience in agriculture and rural development, including in policy research and advocacy, as well as development management. Apart from southern Africa where he is based, he has also worked in the UK and undertaken assignments in other parts of Africa and Asia.

Since joining SACAU in 2005, he has positioned the organisation as the main voice for farmers of southern Africa on matters of common and strategic interest at regional and global levels. The brand is associated with good corporate governance, professionalism, thought leadership and high standards of development management. He has spearheaded the organisation’s work in several key areas, including digital solutions; climate change management; the development of a new generation of farmers and of farmers’ organisations; systems management and multi-stakeholder approaches, and value-chain cooperation. 

He has served or is currently serving in various capacities on several continental and global institutions and initiatives, such as the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), the World Economic Forum (WEF), African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Malabo Montpellier Panel of Experts (MAMO), Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Generation Africa; the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification and USAID’s Bureau for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD)-subcommittee on Climate Change.   

In addition, he has also contributed articles on various topics including digital solutions and climate change management in development publications, such as the Foreign Affairs Journal.  

His ambition is to establish a strong farmer-centric policy think-tank and innovation centre that correctly projects the pain points of farmers and their perspectives, proactively contributes to addressing systemic agricultural development matters, covering such issues as transformation, equity, fairness, transparency, inclusion and voice.