Adenike Ogunlesi

Nigerian food security pioneer transforming Africa's agricultural systems through tech

Adenike Ogunlesi is revolutionizing Nigerian agriculture through her company FarmCrowdy, which uses AI-driven farming analytics to connect investors with smallholder farmers. Launched in 2020, the platform has mobilized $45 million in agricultural investments, supporting 50,000 farmers and producing 25,000 metric tons of food annually by 2024.

Her 2022 initiative AgriTech4Africa created the continent's first blockchain-based supply chain system for perishable goods, reducing post-harvest losses by 40%. The system now operates in 12 African countries through partnerships with the African Development Bank.

Ogunlesi pioneered the Farmerpreneur training program, certifying 10,000 women in agribusiness management. Her TEDx talk "Reimagining Africa's Food Future" (2023) has over 2 million views. In 2024, she was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Food Systems.