Chance Kabaghe has been the Executive Director of Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), since 2012 when it transitioned from the Food Security Research Project (FSRP). He has a BSc and MSc Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Zambia and London University (WYE College) respectively with more than 25 years’ experience in agricultural policy and agribusiness management and analysis. He is one of Zambia’s leading agribusiness practitioners and professionals.

His career has bridged multiple worlds – in agri-business, government, public policy and academia – all at very high levels and with impressively broad impact in key areas affecting agricultural development. In the business world, he played a key role in the promotion of hybrid maize seeds while serving as Marketing Director cum Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Zambia Seed Company Limited (ZAMSEED) during the period 1985 to 1995. He continues active involvement in many of Zambia’s major agri-businesses, serving as Director and Chairman on multiple agribusiness corporate boards including Seedco which is a leading seed company in Zambia and the Sub-Saharan African Region.

In government, he served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock where he was in charge of agricultural policy, planning and marketing. He was the first Executive Director of Zambia’s Food Reserve Agency, where he was instrumental in establishing Zambia’s market-friendly system of strategic food reserves. Drawing from his early career in the academic world as a university lecturer at the University of Zambia School of Agricultural Sciences, Mr Kabaghe has emerged as a key leader in national and regional agricultural policy debates.

As Chief Executive Officer of IAPRI, he is responsible to the Board Directors for the direction and management of the Institute’s research, capacity building, stakeholder consultation, coordination and general administration and financial management. At the regional level, he is the Chairman of the Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Institutes (ReNAPRI) in Eastern and Southern Africa which is comprised of nine (9) countries.

Mr Kabaghe has in the past been involved in the development of many agricultural policies in Zambia such as the Agricultural Marketing Bill, Food Reserve Act, Agricultural Credits Act, and the Cotton Act etc. He also sits on the COMESA Business Council (CBC) where he chairs the Agricultural Committee.

Previously he was appointed to lead the Michigan State University run FSRP from 2009 until it was transformed in 2012 into IAPRI in order to enhance the interface between empirical policy analysis and transmission of these findings to key stakeholders especially policy makers, policy implementers and the private sector.