The Advocacy Labs and Innovation Ambassadors support them in influencing local and regional policies while helping them become mentors and sources of inspiration for their peers.
Transforming African Agriculture through Women-Led Innovation, Automation, and Global Market Integration.
AgriFemmes operates at the vital intersection of agriculture, technology, and economic inclusion. By equipping women agropreneurs with localized digital tools, sustainable farming methodologies, and direct market data, the initiative strengthens local food systems and builds lasting community resilience from the ground up.
This mission is critical across Sub-Saharan Africa, where 76% of all working women are employed within the agrifood system, making up 49% of its total workforce (FAO Report). Rural women face severe systemic barriers, including limited land ownership, fragile cooperatives, and poor market access. A lack of mechanization drives massive productivity gaps that subject women to grueling manual labor. Furthermore, climate shocks disproportionately impact female-headed households, restricting their access to credit and technology while heavily increasing their unpaid domestic workloads.
AgriFemmes addresses these challenges by shifting the paradigm through locally-led innovations. By equipping women with climate-resilient agricultural practices and cutting-edge digital tools, the initiative closes information and productivity gaps. Ultimately, AgriFemmes fosters robust female leadership within agricultural associations, empowering women to transition from subsistence farming into profitable, sustainable commercial agriculture.
AgriFemmes Labs is a structural empowerment program designed to accelerate the economic and technical autonomy of women farmers by optimizing water management, deploying digital tools, and strengthening female agricultural cooperatives.
women participating directly in the pilot initiative
of the cooperative’s abundant active workforce are women
allocated for a targeted off-season onion cultivation campaign
months project duration (June – December 2026)
AgriFemmes aims to strengthen climate resilience, economic independence, and the leadership of rural women. Our three main objectives are:
Co-design tailored solutions with student engineers and rural women (e.g., weather sensors, smart irrigation tools, and SMS chatbots).
Provide seasonal, hands-on training in sustainable agriculture.
Strengthen women’s cooperatives, their advocacy capacities, and their role in agricultural governance.
The project leverages digital tools and climate-smart innovations to strengthen the productivity and resilience of women farmers. Co-creation labs bring together rural women and technology developers to design, test, and refine prototypes. These innovations are then piloted on demonstration plots to measure their real-world impact.
Participants receive hands-on training in soil regeneration, composting, drought-resistant crops, and water management. These sessions support the transfer of local knowledge and elevate women’s expertise within the agroecological transition.
The Advocacy Labs and Innovation Ambassadors support them in influencing local and regional policies while helping them become mentors and sources of inspiration for their peers.
Field-tested, co-designed agri-tech solutions that directly address the daily challenges of rural women.
Widespread adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and sustainable farming techniques across target communities.
Robust, empowered women's cooperatives equipped with enhanced advocacy and leadership skills.
Long-term institutionalization of women’s leadership in local and regional agricultural decision-making.
Creation of a replicable framework for climate-resilient agriculture and digital inclusion that can be adapted across West and Central Africa.
Nancy Akpo
Communication Intern
Nancy AKPO is a Communication & Development Intern at the Community Innovation Hub, where she supports content creation, digital presence, and funding opportunity research across the organization's programs.
Her work combines digital communication and development strategy. She contributes to building CIH's editorial presence across platforms, producing content that makes the organization's impact visible and accessible, while also supporting the identification of funding opportunities aligned with CIH's mission.
El Hadji Malick Niang
Technology & Innovation Intern
El Hadji Malick NIANG is a Developer Intern in Technology and Innovation at the Community Innovation Hub, where he supports the design, prototyping, and technical exploration of digital tools for community-focused programs.
His internship work combines software development, automation, data structuring, and applied research. He contributes to building and testing practical solutions such as dashboards, scripts, technical prototypes, and analytical models, while also helping assess how digital tools can support areas like community health, agriculture, inclusion, and local development.
Fatoumata Bakhoum Samb
Administrative and Financial Manager
Fatoumata BAKHOUM SAMB is a Senegalese professional specialized in administrative, accounting, and financial management, holding a degree in Accounting and Finance from ESUP Dakar. She has over ten years of experience in accounting supervision, budget management, and treasury management, gained within consulting firms and private companies.
After beginning her career at Sigma – Cabinet de Conseils Comptables et Fiscaux, where she progressed from Accounting Assistant to Administrative and Tax Manager, she joined Fideo Holding in 2019. There she successively held the positions of Accountant and then Administrative, Accounting and Financial Manager, overseeing teams, managing client and supplier portfolios, handling tax and social compliance, and implementing financial procedures and internal audits.
Her expertise expanded into the renewable energy sector when she joined Coseer Energy as Administrative and Financial Manager (RAF). There she contributed to the financial and administrative structuring of projects linked to the energy transition, strengthening her profile in a sector that is strategic for sustainable development.
She serves as Administrative and Financial Manager (RAF), actively contributing to the implementation of transparent management systems and to the support of community projects focused on inclusion, education, and innovation.
Versatile and rigorous, she is proficient with tools such as Sage Saari 100, Odoo, QuickBooks, and the Office Suite, as well as modern methods of document management and budget tracking. Her career reflects an ability to move between the private sector, renewable energy, and social innovation, while keeping one constant: the pursuit of efficiency and transparency in financial and administrative management.
Outside of work, she enjoys family outings and shopping in her free time.
Steve Charvet
Technology and Innovation Manager
Steve CHARVET is Technology and Innovation Manager at the Community Innovation Hub, where he oversees the development of technological tools, serves as the interface between external technical teams and CIH across all ongoing projects, and contributes to the organization's digital strategy.
With a background at the crossroads of technology and development, he brings expertise in geographic information systems, applied artificial intelligence, and the design of digital tools built for resource-limited contexts. His approach is straightforward: put technology at the service of people, not the other way around.
At CIH, Steve coordinates the deployment of technology platforms across a wide range of areas, including community health, agriculture,and projects that supports gender equity. He also manages the organization's internal monitoring and funding tracking systems, and contributes to identifying partnership opportunities to grow the program portfolio.
Before entering the development sector, Steve worked as a composer in France in the late 1990s, at a time when the music industry was undergoing a profound transformation, just as digital technology was beginning to reshape the way sound was created and shared. That chapter left him with a conviction he still carries today: the most powerful technologies are those that amplify what people have to express at their best.
Sylvia Dooper
Partnerships and Development Officer
Sylvia DOOPER is the Strategic Partnerships and Development Officer at Community Innovation Hub, where she works alongside the Executive Director to drive the organization's resource mobilization, project design, and strategic alliance building.
With a solid background in international development, diplomacy, governance, and partnership building, she has worked across issues ranging from local governance and higher education to global health, advocacy, and regional development. Her work is rooted in connecting people, ideas, and resources to champion locally led solutions and create sustainable, long-term impact through meaningful collaboration.
At CIH, Sylvia focuses on identifying and cultivating strategic partnerships, developing high-impact concept notes, and designing funding proposals across health, climate resilience, agriculture, education and inclusive governance.
Sylvia holds a Bachelor's degree in International Development Studies from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, a Master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Lund University in Sweden, and a Master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Antwerp University in Belgium. She has gained experience at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission, VNG International, The ONE Campaign, and GDI Advisors.
Outside of work, Sylvia is passionate about sports. She thrives on challenges that require discipline, resilience, and continuous improvement, qualities she seamlessly brings into her professional life.
Assiatou Kama Niang
Executive Director
Assiatou KAMA NIANG is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Community Innovation Hub, where she leads the organization's strategic direction, partnerships, resource mobilization and program development across Africa.
With more than a decade of experience in public health, public policy, gender equity and community engagement, she has worked across research, policy analysis, partnership development and multi-country program management. Her work is rooted in translating evidence, technology and local knowledge into practical solutions that respond to community priorities.
At CIH, Assiatou provides strategic leadership for the organization's growth across health, climate resilience, agriculture, education and inclusive governance. She guides the development of CIH's program portfolio, cultivates institutional and technical partnerships, leads resource mobilization efforts and ensures that the organization's work remains grounded in locally led, evidence-informed innovation.
Assiatou holds a Bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University, a Master's degree in Health Promotion Management, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from American University in Washington, D.C.
Outside of work, she enjoys family time, good food and making space for rest and relaxation, especially well-deserved spa days.
