Grace Okafor is a pioneering urban agriculture specialist who has transformed the landscape of food production in African cities. With over a decade of experience, she has developed innovative techniques for growing food in limited urban spaces, helping communities improve their food security, nutrition, and livelihoods.
As the Director of the Urban Greening Initiative, Grace leads a team that has established over 50 community gardens and vertical farming projects across major cities in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Her work focuses on adapting traditional agricultural practices to urban environments while incorporating modern technologies that maximize productivity in small spaces.
Grace holds a Master's degree in Sustainable Urban Development from the University of Lagos and has completed specialized training in urban agriculture at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences on urban sustainability, food security, and climate-resilient cities.
Through her partnership with Dilulu, Grace shares her expertise as both a speaker and mentor, helping communities transform unused urban spaces into productive gardens and training the next generation of urban agriculture innovators.
Grace brings specialized knowledge and experience in several key areas of urban agriculture and sustainable food systems.
Grace has pioneered vertical farming techniques specifically adapted for African urban contexts, developing low-cost, modular systems that can be implemented in limited spaces. Her designs incorporate locally available materials and appropriate technologies that maximize productivity while minimizing resource use.
With extensive experience in establishing and managing community gardens in diverse urban settings, Grace has developed methodologies for community engagement, participatory design, and collaborative governance that ensure the sustainability and impact of urban agriculture initiatives.
Grace takes a holistic approach to urban food systems, addressing not just production but also processing, distribution, and waste management. Her work includes developing neighborhood-scale food systems that increase access to fresh, nutritious food while creating economic opportunities for urban residents.
Specializing in techniques for growing food on rooftops and in containers, Grace has developed lightweight growing systems, appropriate crop selection, and management practices that transform underutilized urban spaces into productive gardens while addressing challenges like weight limitations and water management.
Grace helps urban farmers develop viable business models that generate income while addressing social and environmental challenges. Her approach emphasizes value-added processing, direct marketing, and diversified revenue streams that enhance the economic sustainability of urban agriculture initiatives.
With a focus on adapting urban agriculture to changing climate conditions, Grace has developed techniques for water conservation, heat management, and crop selection that enhance the resilience of urban food production systems in the face of climate change impacts like increased temperatures and erratic rainfall.
Grace brings a wealth of experience from her work with communities, organizations, and initiatives across Africa.
Founded and leads an organization dedicated to transforming urban spaces into productive gardens across African cities. Developed innovative methodologies for urban agriculture that have been implemented in over 50 communities. Established partnerships with municipal governments, international organizations, and private sector companies to scale urban agriculture initiatives.
Led the design and implementation of urban agriculture programs in Lagos, Accra, and Nairobi. Developed technical guidelines for vertical farming, rooftop gardens, and container gardening adapted to African urban contexts. Trained over 300 community facilitators in urban farming techniques and established 25 demonstration sites across three countries.
Managed programs focused on integrating food production into urban planning and development in Lagos. Developed and implemented a model for community-managed urban farms that was later adopted by the Lagos State Urban Agriculture Policy. Established a network of urban farmers that facilitated knowledge sharing, resource pooling, and collective marketing.
Conducted research on urban agriculture practices and their contribution to food security, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability in African cities. Documented innovative approaches to urban food production and their potential for scaling. Published findings in academic journals and practitioner-oriented publications.
Grace offers engaging presentations on a range of topics related to urban agriculture, food security, and sustainable cities.
This presentation explores innovative approaches to vertical farming that are specifically adapted for African urban contexts. Drawing on case studies from Grace's work across multiple cities, it examines how vertical growing systems can maximize food production in limited spaces while addressing challenges like water scarcity, heat, and limited resources.
Book This TopicThis presentation showcases successful examples of transforming underutilized urban spaces into productive gardens that provide multiple benefits for communities. It explores practical approaches to site assessment, community engagement, design, and implementation that can be adapted to diverse urban contexts.
Book This TopicThis workshop examines how urban agriculture can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities. It covers practical techniques for water conservation, heat management, and biodiversity enhancement that make urban food production more resilient to climate impacts while reducing environmental footprints.
Book This TopicThis presentation explores models for developing viable enterprises based on urban agriculture. It examines case studies of successful urban farming businesses from across Africa and provides a framework for developing business models that create economic opportunities while addressing food security and environmental challenges.
Book This TopicHear from those who have worked with Grace as a speaker, trainer, and mentor.
Grace's workshop on vertical farming techniques was transformative for our community project. Her practical approach and deep understanding of the challenges we face in urban settings helped us redesign our growing systems to be more productive and resource-efficient. Within three months of implementing her recommendations, we doubled our yield while reducing water use by 40%.
As Grace's mentee, I've gained not just technical knowledge about urban farming, but a whole new perspective on how cities can feed themselves. She has a remarkable ability to help you see the potential in even the most challenging urban spaces. Her guidance has been instrumental in helping me develop an urban agriculture program that has now been adopted by five schools in my city.
Grace's keynote address at our urban planning conference was the highlight of the event. Her presentation on integrating food production into city planning challenged our conventional approaches and inspired a whole new direction for our municipal development strategy. Many attendees have reported implementing her ideas in their work with remarkable results for both food security and urban livability.
Whether you're interested in booking Grace as a speaker, engaging her as a trainer for your organization, or applying for mentorship, we'd love to hear from you.
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