Deadline: 02 July 2024

Applications for the fourth cohort of CALA’s Advanced Leadership Programme, an AGRA-led initiative co-implemented by the African Management Institute, are now live!

The fourth cohort follows the successful implementation of the first, second, and third cohorts, composed of 200 leaders from eight focus countries, who began their journey in August 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively. Selected from over 4,000 applications, the first and second cohorts graduated from the programme, joining the robust alumni network, while the third cohort is now halfway into their 16-month leadership learning journey.

The implementation of the third cohort and the call out for the fourth cohort reflects CALA’s continued mission to support the continent’s leaders through improved leadership and collaboration, with a specialized focus on nurturing the next generation of youth leaders.
CALA alumni continue to make great strides in their leadership journey, serving as advocates and testimony to the program’s successes and contributions to food systems transformation in Africa. They are actively involved in driving initiatives for food systems transformation and supporting their countries’ national agricultural priorities, thus enhancing awareness and visibility of CALA’s program and its impact. The program currently has 145 alumni drawn from the public, private, and civil society organizations. 67 alumni graduated from cohort 1, while 78 graduated from cohort 2, representing 58% male and 42% female delegates.

The third cohort, currently being implemented, continues the reflection of CALA’s diverse representation, with an average representation of 60% participants from the government, 23% from the private sector, and 17% from civil society.

I. Who can apply?

• Established or emerging leaders working in government, private firms and associations, or civil society organizations who are responsible for driving agriculture flagships and priority programs in the 8 focus countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Must be actively employed or working in government (public sector), private sector, and civil society (associations or civil society organizations)
• Special consideration will be given to youth, women leaders and individuals working to advance agroecological practices.
• Individuals who previously applied are encouraged to reapply
• People working on or interested in youth employment and empowerment as well as digital agriculture are also encouraged to apply

II. Key Benefits of the programme

The 16-month leadership programme for experienced professionals will include a unique learning approach to developing participants’ leadership, collaboration, and management skills through:

• Action Learning Projects directly connected to your job objectives and country agriculture transformation objectives with on-the-job and in-country coaching
• Access to case studies from game-changers in African agriculture
• Participation in forums such as the Africa Food Systems Forum and bi-annual leadership forums
• Virtual and in-person learning events
• Peer learning, networking, and regular accountability sessions
• Access to an exclusive alumni network with key benefits, events, peer learning and networking

III. Key dates

• Applications for Cohort 4 open on May 13 and will close on July 2, 2024
• Selection communicated by August 2024
• Cohort 4 begins in August 2024

IV. Programme Outcomes

CALA’s Advanced Leadership Programme will support food security champions and leaders to:

• Be recognised as a delivery-oriented and collaborative leader driving tangible change at the country-level
• Advance country-level flagship programs and policies to achieve progress toward agriculture transformation
• Network & drive cross-sector collaboration to advance sustainability and food security objectives
• Enhance leadership skills in environmental sustainability through exposure to agro-ecological principles, climate change adaptation and environmental and social management (ESMS), each recognized as contributing to sustainable farming, food production, and resilient food systems in the face of increasing climate change impacts.

V. Criteria for Selection

Applications are assessed on the applicants eligibility as outlined above and an applicant’s relevance to the course objectives and the selection criteria explained below. You must show that:

• Established leaders: You are responsible for implementation and you lead in taking decisions on behalf of the organization (e.g., Private Sector: CEO, Vice President, Senior Manager, Director; Government: Permanent Secretary, Director; Civil Society: Executive Director, Deputy Director) from strategy to overseeing lines of management)
• Emerging leaders: You have taken a leadership role in significant projects relevant to driving forward national agriculture priorities, and have been entrusted with significant responsibility relative to your years of experience. At least 5 years full-time, sector relevant experience.
• You are committed to personal and professional growth and learning
• You are passionate and committed to creating and leading leadership development for others, both inside and outside of your organizations
• You are an action-oriented individual who has driven the implementation of key strategic projects in the sector
• You can clearly articulate the impact you seek in your career, and why an investment in you is an investment in the development of agriculture in your country
• You display demonstrated commitment to the agricultural sector
• Your organization participates in and impacts upon delivery of agriculture priorities at the national, regional and/or continental level
• You have the ability to clearly express your interest in the program

VI. Certificate & Recognition

• Graduates of the programme will receive a certificate in Advanced Leadership Programme for Africa’s Food Security & Sustainability
• Be recognized as delivery champions across AGRA’s prestigious continental platforms and events, including at the national level
• Join an esteemed network of transformative leaders providing peer support for continuous achievement of country priorities

VII. Programme Format

The 16-month leadership programme for experienced professionals will include a unique learning approach to developing participants’ leadership, collaboration and management skills, through the following experiences:

• Virtual and in-person learning events to hone leadership skills for delivery
• Action Learning Projects connected directly to the participants’ job objectives and country transformation objectives
• On-the-job and in-country coaching 
• Regular peer accountability sessions
• Participation in bi-annual leadership forums 
• Participation in the Africa Food Systems Forum
• Exposure to case studies of ‘Game-changers’ in African agriculture
• Virtual and in-person peer-learning and networking with cohorts of participants from across the continent.

VIII. Programme Costs & Sponsorship

• Participants’ fees are fully sponsored through support provided to AGRA by the German Development Cooperation through KfW Development Bank. This will include travel costs for all Leadership Forums and graduation events.
• Participants are expected to meet their own costs of internet access for virtual leadership forums.
• Please note, CALA does not provide for per diems for in-person leadership forums and graduation events attendance.

IX. How To Apply?

• To apply, please, click HERE
• If you have any questions about the programme, please send an email to [email protected] .

X. About CALA

Even when countries have well-defined visions and plans for agricultural transformation, they may fail to deliver on expectations due to lack of implementation capacity. CALA’s Advanced Leadership Programme for Food Security and Sustainability is an applied leadership transformation journey through which leaders will enhance their capacity to deliver on agriculture transformation initiatives.

The programme offers a unique blended-learning approach which will include AGRA’s key pan-African leadership forums, executive leadership coaching in planning, strategy, and execution, and team-based Action Learning Projects tied to implementing national agriculture priorities.

These Action Learning Projects will enable leaders in the cohort to apply what they learn to real-time challenges within national flagship agriculture programs, leading to strong results and high-impact change.

With a strong initial focus on highly engaging programming that will be delivered virtually (in-person when possible), the programme will allow leaders to engage in shared problem-solving, participate in peer-learning, and hands-on knowledge exchange.

The programme begins by bringing together leaders from eight African countries, representing the public and private sectors, and civil society, to learn the latest in leadership and management strategies. Participants will participate in monthly webinars, carry out their Action Learning Project, with supporting coaching sessions and have access to an “online academy” with learning modules, tools, toolkits, case studies, and customized material relevant to agriculture and food security leadership.

With AMI’s web-based learning platform and iOS and Android mobile applications, participants can stay engaged in learning as they perform their professional duties and busy schedules.

At the conclusion of the 16-month program, the cohort will come back together to showcase their work and how they’ve implemented their new leadership approaches to advance their country’s agriculture priorities through their new leadership approach.