Olamilekan Adeyeye

Nigerian agricultural innovator creating drought-resistant crops for smallholder farmers

Olamilekan Adeyeye (b.1987) is a visionary agronomist leading Nigeria's food security efforts through his company AgroFarms Nigeria. He developed drought-tolerant cassava varieties that have increased yields by 300% for 50,000+ farmers in the Sahel region. His work combines traditional farming wisdom with CRISPR gene-editing techniques, creating crops resistant to both climate change and pests.

In 2020, he launched 'Seeds of Hope', a mobile app connecting farmers to real-time weather data and microloans. This platform now serves 200,000 users across 6 African countries. A winner of the 2021 African Innovation Foundation Prize, Olamilekan's methods have reduced crop failure rates by 65% in Niger and Mali.

His partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports research into nitrogen-fixing maize varieties. He also teaches at the University of Ibadan, mentoring the next generation of agricultural scientists through his 'Green Academy' initiative.