Liz Ogutu

Liz Ogutu is a policy and climate-action specialist with more than 18 years of experience in agricultural transformation, policy engagement, partnerships, resource mobilization, and research-for-development across Africa. She leads Climate Action initiatives for the Eastern and Southern Africa region at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, providing strategic leadership on climate-resilient food systems, science-policy engagement, and the scaling of climate-smart agricultural innovations. She is also a member of the Capacity Sharing Accelerator with activities on South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC).

Her work focuses on translating scientific evidence into practical policies, investment approaches, and institutional solutions that strengthen climate resilience and food security. She has extensive experience engaging governments, regional bodies, research institutions, universities, development partners, and the private sector to advance climate-smart agriculture (CSA), climate information services (CIS), capacity sharing, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

Through the WB-funded Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) initiative, Liz has coordinated and supported multi-country efforts to scale CSA and CIS innovations, strengthen policy processes, develop scaling pathways, mobilize partnerships, and foster capacity development. She has also contributed to curriculum co-development and capacity-building partnerships with Kenyan universities to strengthen the next generation of climate and agricultural professionals, as well as to a capacity-sharing pilot in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Senegal.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Liz held leadership positions with HarvestPlus/IFPRI, the African Union Commission, ACIAR, and ILRI. Across these roles, she contributed to agricultural policy, nutrition, food safety, institutional partnerships, and resource mobilization initiatives at national, regional, and continental levels.

Liz holds a BSc from The Open University (UK) and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University (UK). Her professional interests include climate action, agricultural policy, innovation scaling, nutrition resilience, capacity development, sustainable finance, and science-policy interfaces for food systems transformation.