About Me

Background

Oluwafemi Royal Aliu (born 12 May 1993) is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and global professional with cross-sectoral experience in Agribusiness, Sustainable Development, Tourism and Education sectors. 

He started his career working in emerging markets to drive technology penetration in Agribusiness sectors, leading the adoption of blockchain based-commodity exchange in 2018, co-leading the digitalisation of farm advisory, extension and monitoring for over 600,000 smallholder farmers in Nigeria under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Program (CBN-ABP) in the 36 states of Nigeria in 2019 and also leading the digitalization of commodity trading in Nigeria in 2021, working with organisations like Dalberg, CropIT, Binkabi, ThriveAgric among others. 

He co-founded Myfarmbase Africa, an agritech skills development organisation for youth development where he built a community of over 25,000 youths with access to self-employment and entrepreneurial opportunities and provided direct access to agtech skills to over 10,000 youths in over 12 countries and recently supported the green jobs initiative of the United Nations IFAD Agribusiness Hub initiative in Africa, Latin America and Asia regions. 

Education 

Oluwafemi obtained a bachelor’s degree in Soil Chemistry from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in 2014. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in International Agriculture & Development from the Graduate Institute of International Development, Agriculture and Economics (GIIDAE), University of Reading, United Kingdom and an Executive Certificate in Agribusiness Management from the Lagos Business School.  

Recognition

2017 Common Purpose Global Leader

2018 Future Africa Awards Nominee 

2019 Ashoka Changemakers fellow

2019 Grantee, Pollination Grant 

2020 Grantee, Robert Stiftung Bosch Fellowship 

2022 Lagos Business School Alumnus

2023 UK Global Tech Talent Awardee

High Level Engagements  

He is widely travelled and has visited over 28 countries and 50 cities across 4 continents of the world. He has had high level engagements as listed below: 

Presenter, Young African Journal for Development Author at the African Union HQ 

Panelist, FITCC Summit, USA

Panelist, St Andrews Summit, Scotland

Panelist, The Engineering Summit, Lagos 

Speaker, TEDx Ibara and TEDx FUNAAB on “Smart Agriculture and Technology” 2018 

Others

Nigeria representative, Climate Change and Green Growth Policy Strategy Dialogue, African Green Growth Forum, Rwanda, Kigali. 2018 

Sexy Farming Farm Tour, Kampala, Uganda. 2018 

Delegate, SDG e-conference Foodathon, Wageningen Campus, The Netherlands 2018 

Delegate, Youth Agripreneurs Forum, African Development Bank, South Africa. 

Entrepreneurship Trainer/Mentor for Fate Foundation/Next Economy Programme funded by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2019 – Date) 

Mentor, GAIN Agribusiness Innovation Challenge, Ventures Platform 

Walker Institute of University of Reading Observer at the COP27, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 2022. 

Delegate, Fidelity Bank International Trade Conference, London, United Kingdom, 2022 

Delegate, 2023 Annual CGIAR Gender Research Conference co-hosted by the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR, India, 2023

Articles 

Paper Presenter, Young African Journal for Development, African Union Headquarters, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa 2018 

Extracurricular

He is a member of Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Reading Polo Club, Caversham Tennis Club, NIDO, RMET, BSSS, DSA, BCS, IAMN

References 

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/06/21/tech-expert-makes-case-for-blockchain-disruption-of-agriculture-commodity-trading/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/nigerian-tech-expert-makes-case-for-digitisation-of-agricultural-value-chain/

https://guardian.ng/news/how-autonomous-robots-can-bridge-labour-shortages-in-agriculture-agritech-expert/

https://guardian.ng/news/myfarmbase-africa-to-launch-cooperative-to-aggregate-resources-for-youths-in-agric-tech/

https://leapafrica.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/leapispartofmystory-femi-royal-aliu/

https://youtu.be/1KZ2rrko5x8

https://www.bellanaija.com/2018/12/bellanaijamcm-femi-aliyu-of-myfarmbase-africa-is-helping-farmers-work-smarter/

https://www.naijanews.com/2021/09/17/nigeria-must-embrace-e-extension-and-digital-advisory-services-to-boost-food-security/

https://youtu.be/GYEV5gQOUrs

https://www.rusu.co.uk/representation/student-reps/part-time-officers/pg-taught-officer/

https://changemakerxchange.org/changemaker/oluwafemi-royal/

https://thepollinationproject.org/boundless-opportunity/

https://businessday.ng/agriculture/article/youths-will-find-agriculture-attractive-with-technology/

https://bigdata.cgiar.org/youth-partner/myfarmbase-africa/

https://ynaija.com/myfarmbase-africa-hosts-agripreneurs-and-enthusiasts-to-agritech-lab-2019/

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/06/20/timi-dakolo-edewor-others-awarded-at-smsgs-awards-africa-2020?amp=1

https://youtu.be/qnUA-s3gpOU

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/yaljod/vol2/iss1/26/

https://ndlink.org/femi-royal-technology-smart-agriculture/

https://medium.com/@femiroyale/how-to-make-it-big-in-agriculture-7d68bffec0f4

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/07/agritech-expert-seeks-to-empower-young-nigerians-in-digital-economy/

https://vanguardtimes.com.ng/nigerian-agritech-expert-oluwafemi-royal-aliu-bags-uk-global-talent-visa/

https://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2023/jul/28/305.html

https://sunnewsonline.com/femi-royal-harps-on-advancing-tech-adoption-for-sustainable-trade-and-export-in-africa-at-fidelity-international-trade-creative-connect-usa/

https://naija.yafri.ca/myfarmbase-africa-hosts-agripreneurs-and-enthusiasts-to-agritech-lab-2019/

https://afrikayouthmovement.org/sexy-farming/

https://thefutureafrica.com/the-future-project-supports-myfarmbase-africa-in-hosting-agropreneurs-and-enthusiasts-at-agritech-lab-2019/

https://www.pulse.com.gh/bi/tech/agriculture-enthusiasts-investors-ask-african-youths-to-leverage-on-technology-in/9xz02xm

https://theworldnews.net/ng-news/myfarmbase-africa-hosts-agripreneurs-and-enthusiasts-to-agritech-lab-2019

https://guardian.ng/business-services/experts-harp-on-smart-farming-to-boost-economy/

https://cryptotvplus.com/blockchain-technology-for-agriculture/

http://africanchangemakers.org/femi-royal-african-changemakers-fellow-at-tedx-ibara/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/07/firm-to-boost-agriculture-trading-with-block-chain-technology/

https://guardian.ng/appointments/youth-group-holds-summit-on-exceptional-leadership/

http://thenationonlineng.net/youth-and-agribusiness/

https://ndlink.org/2018/04/16/femi-royal-careful-examination-food-security-issues-nigeria/

https://youtu.be/X-ziq6HxUjw

https://blog.binkabi.io/binkabi-meetup-lagos-on-30-may-3effa94d96

https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/30459

https://yourstory.com/mystory/3a36d19a88–the-story-of-an-enterprising-leader-femi-royal

https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/25006

https://techfoliance.co.za/fintech-africa/western-africa/binkabi-to-pilot-tokenized-commodity-trading-in-nigeria/

https://walker.reading.ac.uk/should-africa-stall-its-growth-as-we-push-for-net-zero-by-2050-cop-cas-student-blog/

https://www.naijanews.com/2021/09/17/nigeria-must-embrace-e-extension-and-digital-advisory-services-to-boost-food-security/

https://guardian.ng/news/myfarmbase-africa-to-launch-cooperative-to-aggregate-resources-for-youths-in-agric-tech/

https://guardian.ng/news/how-autonomous-robots-can-bridge-labour-shortages-in-agriculture-agritech-expert/