Ify Umunna is the Director of Agriculture at Dev Afrique. Prior to this, she was the Head of Corporate Strategy at AFEX, where she lead the development of strategic initiatives to inform business decisions, address challenges, and identify growth opportunities. Her work spans research, grant acquisition, strategy development, and close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

With extensive international experience in development, gender, agriculture, health, and nutrition, Ify has held key roles at organizations such as The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Adolescent Health (WHO) in Geneva, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition in London, and African Philanthropy Forum in Lagos. Prior to joining AFEX, Ify served as the Co-CEO of Nourishing Africa and founded Kori Collective.

She has conducted extensive field research and report writing, contributing to various published and internal reports, including baseline studies, toolkits, and policy proposals. Notably, she co-authored the chapter “The Influence of Religion on the Empowerment and Economic Mobility of Smallholder Women Dairy Farmers in Nigeria” in Muslim Women in the Economy: Development, Faith & Globalization, published by Routledge, and led the research for Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli.

Ify holds a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Social Science, majoring in International Relations, Sociology, and Gender and Transformation from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and a Master’s degree in International Development with honours from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. She is also a 2022 Obama Foundation Leader (Africa).