I realised early on that my efforts to grow sustainable livelihoods for all through agri-food programmes would eventually falter if landscapes kept on degrading. For a while, I found regenerative agriculture approaches quite promising, but they were simply inadequate in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality. That is why I assumed the role of coordinating our new partnership and initiative with Commonland and Landscape Finance Lab to accelerate landscape regeneration at scale. We are doing this by enhancing and road-testing a holistic landscape approach that could be the panacea to meet the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Before coming to Wetlands International in April 2022, I contributed to building a funding strategy and programme portfolio of regenerative and circular agriculture initiatives at IKEA Foundation. Prior to that I had spent nearly two decades in different African countries mainly Zimbabwe (my origin), Tanzania, Malawi, Nigeria, and Sudan, either managing or advising initiatives on agricultural sector development.
My career started as a land-use planning officer in Government. I have a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Zimbabwe, an MBA from Africa University, and an MCom in Development Finance from the University of Cape Town.