Sheikh joins Corporate Council on Africa, leads upcoming agribusiness conference
February 25, 2015 |10:38 AM
The Corporate Council on Africa has hired Patricia Sheikh, a longtime executive in the Agriculture Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service, as director of agribusiness.
Sheikh served as the deputy administrator for the Office of Capacity Building and Development from 2006 until her retirement in 2014. In that capacity, she oversaw all global agricultural development and trade programs and was responsible for directing U.S. foreign policy objectives as they related to foreign assistance, including food aid.
She also worked on the role of women and the private sector in agriculture, and created programs and projects that take into account climate change.
From 1997-2006, she served as the deputy administrator of international trade policy at FAS and was heavily involved in the development of U.S. trade policy on Africa and North Asia.
CCA is a nonprofit, membership-based organization established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the United States and the nations of Africa.
Sheikh’s first major project is a forum entitled “Agribusiness Today: Innovation, Investment and Infrastructure.” The forum, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the African Agribusiness Knowledge Centers, will be held April 1 to 2 in Cambridge, Mass.
The conference is expected to bring together U.S. and African government, corporate and academic leaders to discuss reducing risks, spurring productivity and creating thriving agricultural communities throughout Africa and how aligning finance with sustainable agricultural development will create lasting impacts, the council said.
