Rwanda | Drought-tolerant seeds

2026 Top Agri-food Pioneers: Marina Kamanzi

Marina Kamanzi, founder and managing director of Kagezi Seed Company Limited, is a transformative leader whose work addresses global hunger through climate-resilient innovation and social inclusivity. Rooted in her lived experience as a refugee, she combines her legal acumen with a passion for agribusiness to solve pressing challenges in Zambian agriculture. Since founding Kagezi Seeds in 2021, Kamanzi has built a nature-positive value chain that serves over 5,000 smallholder outgrowers. Under her leadership, the company distributed drought-tolerant crop varieties that increased smallholder yields by up to 142%. She champions a gender-inclusive model where 55% of outgrowers are women, providing them with partial credit, technical training and guaranteed off-take. By reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and promoting climate-resilient orphan crops, she provides a blueprint for a food-secure and equitable future for vulnerable agricultural communities.