Citation

Professor Oseyemi Olurotimi Akinbamijo is a Senior Policy Officer at the African Union (AU) Commission and a distinguished Professor of Agricultural Systems. He is a globally respected agricultural research-for-development expert with over four decades of impactful work across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Academic and Research Contributions

In the first two decades of his career, Professor Akinbamijo’s research focused on:

• Ruminant nutrition physiology in health and disease
• Urban and peri-urban agricultural production systems
• Climate-smart agricultural technologies
• Agricultural innovation systems
• Organisational development

His work during this period laid critical foundations for sustainable livestock production and urban agriculture across West Africa.

Over the past two decades, he transitioned into systems innovation, policy development, and agricultural technologies, contributing significantly to frameworks shaping the transformation of African agriculture.

Strategic Leadership and Policy Impact

Professor Akinbamijo has held several high-level strategic roles within the African Union system, including:

• Head, Agriculture & Food Security Division, Addis Ababa
• Chief Animal Resources Officer, Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (Nairobi, Kenya)
• Director, Inter-African Phyto-Sanitary Council (Yaoundé, Cameroon)
• Executive Director & Head of Mission, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra, Ghana

During his decade-long leadership at FARA, he spearheaded major institutional reforms, aligning the organisation’s strategy with science-based decision-making to advance agricultural innovation, climate resilience, and economic growth across Africa.

Development Impact Across Africa

Professor Akinbamijo served for eleven years at the International Trypanotolerance Centre, working across West Africa on ruminant nutrition biochemistry, particularly in relation to trypanosomiasis and tick-borne diseases.

He also played a key role in one of West Africa’s first urban and peri-urban agriculture programmes, through which over 10,000 urban women horticultural farmers were empowered and lifted out of poverty across:

• The Gambia
• Senegal
• Guinea
• Mali
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Guinea-Bissau

This was achieved through innovative cross-bred peri-urban dairy production systems.

Scientific Excellence and Innovation

As a research scientist, Professor Akinbamijo has made outstanding contributions to:

• Understanding metabolic costs and immunological responses in ruminants
• Developing low-input agricultural systems
• Advancing environmentally sustainable farming practices

His farmer-centered approach has enabled thousands of households to improve livelihoods through practical, scalable agricultural solutions.

He also contributed to national policy by helping establish and coordinate the Expert Working Group of the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) under Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.

Global Collaboration and Capacity Building

Professor Akinbamijo collaborated with TETFund to design and implement the African Research & Innovation Fellowship in Agriculture (ARIFA) initiative.

Through this programme, in partnership with the University of Viçosa, Brazil, he facilitated postgraduate training for over 120 Nigerian university mid-career academics, strengthening Africa–Brazil collaboration in agricultural innovation.

Current Roles and Professional Recognition

He currently serves as:

• Adjunct Professor, Agricultural Systems and Organisational Development, Bayero University, Kano
• Vice-President, Capital Worth Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Professor Akinbamijo is widely published across multiple disciplines, including:

• Animal Production
• Crop Production
• Ecological and Organic Farming
• Climate-Smart Agriculture

A polyglot fluent in seven languages—including English, French, Dutch, and Amharic—he is also deeply engaged in community development, mentoring young leaders and teaching integrity and leadership values.

He is happily married to Mrs. Olajumoke Akinbamijo, and they are blessed with children.

Award Presentation

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that we invite Professor Oseyemi Olurotimi Akinbamijo to receive the Hallmarks of Labour Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to Research, Innovation, and Value-Chain Development towards Food Security.

Congratulations, Sir!