Founder and CEO of leading agribusiness firm, Agri-Impact Group, Dr. (h.c) Daniel Fahene Acquaye, has been appointed Chairman of the CSIR–Crops Research Institute (CRI) Management Board.
He was officially inducted into office on Thursday, February 19, 2026, in Kumasi.
In this role, Dr. Acquaye will lead an eight-member Board, providing strategic direction and governance oversight to one of Ghana’s foremost agricultural research institutions.
The board will, among other things, set and approve research priorities and policies, provide budget and financial management oversight, promote applied research and commercialisation, foster private sector partnership and enhance national visibility.
Dr. Acquaye’s appointment is seen as a strategic step toward strengthening research–industry collaboration and accelerating the commercialisation of agricultural innovation.
The Management Board includes:
Dr. Daniel Fahene Acquaye – CEO, Agri-Impact Group; Agribusiness Expert (Chairperson)
Dr. Baffour Asafo-Agyei – Retired Crops Research Scientist and Plant Breeder with local and international experience (Member)
Mr. Kojo Akoto Boateng – Consultant, Farmer, and Media Personality (Member)
Dr. Solomon Ansah – Director of Crop Services, MoFA (Member)
Prof. Marian Quain – Deputy Director-General, CSIR (Member)
Dr. Collins Tay – Director, CSIR–Soil Research Institute (Member)
Prof. Maxwell Darko Asante – Director, CSIR-CRI (Member)
Mr. Emmanuel Afriyie – Lawyer and Head of Administration, CSIR-CRI (Secretary to the Management Board)
About Dr. (h.c) Daniel Fahene Acquaye
Daniel Fahene Acquaye is a preeminent Agribusiness Development and Value Chain Expert with over 30 years of distinguished leadership and entrepreneurial success across Africa. A visionary serial entrepreneur, consultant, and thought leader, he has dedicated his career to building sustainable agricultural systems, empowering SMEs, and catalysing youth employment at scale.
As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Agri-Impact Group, Daniel leads a diversified portfolio of companies, including Agri-Impact Limited, Fresh Logistics, ASNAPP, and the Agri-Impact Institute for Innovation and Technology, collectively employing over 150 professionals.
He is widely recognised for his ability to design, resource, and execute transformative programmes. Most notably, he serves as the strategic architect and lead for the Mastercard Foundation-supported Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY) Program, a landmark initiative aimed at creating more than 326,000 dignified jobs for young Ghanaians. Over the past five years, he has mobilised and managed project funding exceeding $100 million.
His influence extends well beyond Ghana. Daniel has consulted for more than 30 international organisations, including USAID, World Bank, African Union (AU/NEPAD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and GIZ, delivering advisory services in over 30 countries across Africa and the Caribbean.
His expertise spans high-level value chain analysis, national agricultural investment planning, enterprise development, public–private partnerships, and hands-on advisory support to more than 100 “One District, One Factory” (1D1F) enterprises.
He has pioneered practical skills development models, including leading the design of Competency-Based Training (CBT) curricula for vocational institutions and establishing incubation programmes that have nurtured thousands of young entrepreneurs. A respected voice in global agribusiness discourse, he has chaired and spoken at over 50 high-level conferences worldwide.
A defining highlight of his career has been advancing Ghana’s medicinal and natural plant products onto the global stage through science-based, market-driven partnerships.
Through his subsidiary, Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products (ASNAPP), originally launched as a USAID-funded initiative operating in five African countries, he built strong collaborations with leading academic institutions such as Rutgers University, Stellenbosch University, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
These partnerships supported ethnobotanical research, the establishment of a Genebank at KNUST, the cultivation of Cryptolepis for the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, and the commercialisation of products including kombo butter, Lippia herbal tea, grains of paradise, Xylopia, miracle berries, Griffonia, Voacanga and Artemisia annua. Within four years, medicinal plant exports under the initiative grew from $3 million to $25 million, significantly expanding Ghana’s footprint in international markets.
Daniel holds an Executive MBA in Project Management from the University of Ghana and a BSc in Agriculture from KNUST, complemented by executive certifications in Corporate Governance and Business Systems Analysis.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to youth empowerment and agribusiness development, KNUST conferred on him a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree and further honoured him by naming the Dan F. Acquaye Drone Innovation and Simulation Unit after him, underscoring his commitment to technology-driven agricultural transformation.
His contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including Agribusiness Entrepreneur of the Year – Ghana (2021), Ghanaian Internationally Renowned Agribusiness Personality (2019), and Outstanding Contribution to Agribusiness Technology and Youth Development (2023). Under his leadership, Agri-Impact Group has received 12 national and international awards in the past three years. He has collaborated with over 15 international universities across Africa and the United States and worked closely with more than 55 national and multinational agribusiness CEOs.
Dr. Acquaye’s leadership in climate-smart horticulture is exemplified through the Youth in Greenhouse Enterprise Project (YUGEP), an initiative he conceptualised to drive import substitution and large-scale youth employment through commercial greenhouse vegetable production. Funded by EXIM Bank Ghana, YUGEP under his guidance facilitated the construction of greenhouses across key regions including Ashanti, Greater Accra, Volta, Central, and Eastern, providing technical, managerial, and financial support to over 200 tertiary graduate entrepreneurs, as well as selected institutions and promoters, enabling them to establish and manage sustainable greenhouse enterprises.
To strengthen market linkages and scale Ghana’s high-value vegetable value chain, he founded Fresh Logistics Limited. Under his strategic direction, Fresh Logistics operates modern greenhouse production systems with strict quality control protocols, ensuring a year-round supply of premium fresh vegetables to leading retail outlets and major market centres across Ghana, while promoting food safety, quality assurance, and technology-driven agricultural production.
The company has partnered with the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry (MoTAI) and other stakeholders to develop a National Agribusiness Policy for Ghana, and with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to develop a Poultry Masterplan and a policy framework for the rice sector.
Dr. Acquaye is also the architect of the Smallholder Inclusive Productivity and Market Access (SIPMA) Project, a market-led agricultural transformation initiative designed to improve food security and livelihoods among smallholder maize and soybean farmers. Under his leadership, SIPMA mobilised and trained over 140,000 producers, linking them to structured markets through an integrated ecosystem that combined input systems, finance, extension services, biometric registration, and farmer-based organisation strengthening.
By aligning public and private investment and leveraging multidisciplinary expertise, he positioned SIPMA as a scalable model for strengthening competitiveness and building resilient market systems.
His appointment as Board Chair of the CSIR–Crops Research Institute places him at the nexus of research, commercialisation, governance, and national development—further reinforcing his enduring legacy of transforming policies, strengthening institutions, and creating sustainable pathways to prosperity for smallholders and youth across Africa.
