Joan Cuka Kagwanja

Joan Cuka Kagwanja is the Chief of the Land Policy Initiative, an initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), Economic Commission (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). She was instrumental in its establishment in 2006. Along focal persons from AUC and AfDB, she led a roadmap of activities toward the development of the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), which was adopted by the AU summit of Heads of State and Government in July 2009 – in a Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa. She has over 15 years experience in African development, having held several positions at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Ms. Kagwanja is a Kenyan national and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia (USA).