AKEYO AFRICA
Why the name Akeyo?
Akeyo (a-KEH-yoh) is a vegetable, also known as the African Spider Plant. It's a spinach that is easy to grow and provides a good, nutritious supplement.
In some parts of East Africa, Akeyo, or Akeo, is a girl's name, which means "born during harvest".
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The name connects to Akeyo's goals on agriculture, people, and nature.
Who is Akeyo?
Staff
Miriam Apell is Akeyo's CEO in charge of everything from strategy and support to the field team, to setting up new systems to monitor and drive progress in sales, savings groups and videos. Miriam has vast experience in entrepreneurship, supply chain management and last-mile delivery. She previously started her own last-mile delivery company and worked as Purchasing Manager at Kyosk, an e-commerce distribution company. Miriam holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management.
Nkabuzaranwa John is Agricultural Engagement & Sales Supervisor at Akeyo. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural and Rural Innovation from Makerere University and brings experience in agricultural extension work and microfinance operations. John has worked as both a branch manager and ERA team leader, focusing on farmer training and community engagement. Based in Buikwe, he brings strong communication skills in multiple local languages and expertise in sustainable agriculture practices to Akeyo's operations
Lincoln Ainomugisha is Agricultural Extension Officer at Akeyo. He is responsible for engaging farmers and driving sales. Lincoln has extensive experience in sustainable farming methodologies and farmer group organization, having worked as an extension officer supervising field-level agricultural activities across multiple villages in Mpigi district. He is based in Kayunga.
Ole Dahl Rasmussen is the initiator and Director of Akeyo. Ole has worked in international development for 15 years, on the intersection of climate change, private-sector agriculture and agricultural finance. He has lived in Burkina Faso and Uganda for eight years and visited a large number of agro-businesses, farmers, and savings groups. He holds a Master’s in Political Science and a PhD in Development Economics, focusing on savings groups and farmers in Malawi.
Advisor
Akeyo Africa is supported by Joost van Engen, based on his work with Health Entrepreneurs. The purpose is to support scalable models for last-mile service delivery, primarily in rural Africa, in line with Healthy Entrepreneur’s own mission. Joost provides mentoring, business development and investment sourcing support. Joost is an Ashoka Fellow and holds an MBA from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.