Afiavi Caca "Calista" Akibode

MPS Class of 2023, Global Development

Bouriez Family Fellow (2022)

Grand challenge: Gender equality and women's empowerment in the food system

Connect: aca95 [at] cornell.edu (aca95[at]cornell[dot]edu) | LinkedIn

Afiavi Caca (Calista) Akibode is from Republic of Togo in West Africa. She holds a Master's degree in project management and economic development. Prior to coming to Cornell, she worked as a technical advisor in entrepreneurship at the National Agency of Employment (NAE), where she was in charge of the development of small scale companies. Certified by International Labor Organization as an entrepreneurship trainer and coach, Afiavi has assisted many small enterprises in the framework of Vocational Training and the Youth Employment Program in agriculture with GIZ. As Owner and Founder of Calia Expertise, an incubation center for women entrepreneurship, she has also successfully organized several activities to support women's empowerment. Afiavi joined Cornell University in 2021 as a Humphrey Fellow where she specialized in gender equality and women's economic empowerment in food systems. Through this amazing experience she won the Bouriez Family Fellowship from Institute for African Development of Cornell University. Now as an MPS student in Global Development with a concentration on gender and development, Afiava looks forward to further explore of gender issues in development work. Her future goal is to promote women’s inclusion and economic empowerment in agriculture to help the Republic of Togo achieve its objective of gender equality and women's empowerment.