February 10, 2026
AfricaRice embarked on a transformative leadership journey with the launch of a five-day Leadership & Culture Workshop, bringing together managers and leaders from across the center to strengthen leadership capacity, align strategic direction, revive the team spirit and enhance operational effectiveness.
This workshop marked a pivotal step in preparing AfricaRice for the next decade, as the organization advances toward its 2026–2035 strategy and reinforces its role in driving rice self-sufficiency across Africa. By fostering shared leadership principles, collaboration, and systems thinking, AfricaRice is investing in the people and culture needed to deliver impact at scale.
In his introduction words, Dr Baboucarr Manneh, Director General AfricaRice emphasized the need to exercise an exemplary management approach in achieving the center’s goal: ‘‘What we do to transform the lives of rice value chain actors on the continent is as important as how we do it. Our future impact depends not only on what we do, but on how we lead and work together.”
Building Leadership Capacity for Organizational Impact
The first three days of the workshop focused on strengthening individual and collective leadership capabilities. Participants explored leadership styles, authentic leadership, and growth mindset practices to enhance their ability to lead with purpose and adaptability. The facilitator team from the System Organization of CGIAR placed emphasis on building inclusive teams grounded in psychological safety and ethical decision-making, ensuring that diverse perspectives are valued and leveraged.
Participants enjoyed the discussions while sharing examples of their daily challenges and successes to build collective awareness and together find contextualized and sustained solutions. They spent a great number of times working in groups on innovation, collaboration, and systems thinking, key competencies that are required to connect one department role with others and better appreciate the bigger picture for broader impact.
Rebecca Williams, Director of People & Culture shared that ‘Building strong empathetic leadership, that leads with integrity, accountability and with the values of the CGIAR front and centre is imperative to ensure that AfricaRice and the CGIAR Integrated Partnership achieves the desired impact that we all strive for’.
Setting the Stage for AfricaRice’s 2026–2035 Strategy
The final two days shifted the focus from personal leadership development to organizational transformation. Participants worked collectively to define the components, processes, and tactics of AfricaRice’s new strategic framework for 2026–2035. They also identified operational changes required to support the strategy, diagnosed existing challenges, and outlined actionable directions for solutions.
“Strategy is not a document, it’s a way of working,” said Dr Prem Bindraban, Deputy Director General & Director Research and Innovation, AfricaRice. He emphasized: “By connecting leadership development with strategic planning, we ensure AfricaRice’s ambitions match our people’s ability to deliver.”
Strengthening Culture, Collaboration, and Trust
Beyond skills and strategy, the workshop aimed to shape the culture and ways of thinking, collaborating, managing and working to enable AfricaRice to operate as a cohesive, high-impact organization. This initiative conducted by experts from within CGIAR strengthened mutual trust, fostered a growth mindset, and promoted multidisciplinary collaboration. It therefore seeks to break down silos and encourage integrated approaches across functions and partnerships.
Stephen Brightwell, Senior Manager, People and Culture observed that “the opportunity to exchange ideas, refine our leadership skills and build trust and respect in such an energetic engaging space was invaluable. I have no doubt that the team at AfricaRice will continue to have a huge impact on the continent and beyond."
Preparing for Change and Scaling Impact
As AfricaRice advances its future agenda on the global stage, this workshop represents a critical moment for aligning leadership, culture, and strategy. These key elements, essentials for the sustained health of an organization will certainly contribute to boost AfricaRice’s organizational effectiveness and global engagement within the CGIAR ecosystem and beyond.
Before leaving the team, Rebecca shared that ‘‘Spending time with such a dedicated, passionate and committed group of leaders was inspiring and humbling. The participants invested fully in the week and challenged themselves to develop new skills and visualise a bold and ambitious strategy to take AfricaRice to 2035. I have no doubt that they will succeed. It was a privilege to be invited to the AfricaRice family.’’
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