Open to opportunities

ERNEST OSEI-ASSIBEY

@ernestosei-assibey

Message

Agribusiness and policy specialist advancing fertilizer regulation and soil health.

Ghana

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead policy and regulatory work that strengthens fertilizer and soil health governance—turning evidence into practical tools, coordinating stakeholders, and delivering measurable impact in sustainable nutrient management and resilient regional food systems.

I’m an Agribusiness and Policy Specialist with over fifteen years of expertise in agricultural input regulation, soil health governance, and regional market systems development across West Africa. I’ve driven fertilizer, seeds, and pesticides sector reforms through regulatory harmonization aligned with ECOWAS frameworks, and I translate complex technical research into actionable policy for sustainable nutrient management and resilient food systems.

In recent roles, I’ve led policy and technical coordination to align nutrient roadmaps with national policy and investment frameworks, and I’ve guided multi-stakeholder fertilizer sector reviews, advocacy, and capacity building across multiple member states. I’ve also strengthened fertilizer quality assurance through digitization, supported fertilizer subsidy design, and built governance frameworks that improve quality control, trade facilitation, and productivity—while safeguarding environmental resources.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Development Country Lead

Current

Date Gateway-Soil

Jul 2025 - Present (11 months)

Built political and technical buy-in within the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture to support SNR project implementation. Aligned the Soil Nutrient Roadmap into national policy and investment frameworks and coordinated stakeholder inputs for a soil nutrient dashboard decision tool for Ghana.

Soil Nutrient Roadmaps Agricultural Policy Alignment Stakeholder Management ECOWAS Harmonization Soil Health Governance

International Team Leader

Africa Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)

Jul 2023 - Feb 2025 (1 year 7 months)

Led fertilizer sector reviews and regulatory systems work across Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria under the EnGRAIS agenda. Trained 50+ regulators, supported fertilizer regulatory framework reforms across eight countries, and helped drive SMART subsidy design, WACoFeC coordination, and fertilizer laboratory testing capacity networking.

Fertilizer Policy Reform Subsidies Fertilizer Sector Reviews Capacity Building Regional Market Harmonization

Head of Analytical Services

Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD)

Jan 2009 - Jan 2013 (4 years)

Coordinated post-registration routine fertilizer, seed, and pesticide sampling and testing for quality control programs, including development of field evaluation protocols for fertilizer products. Trained agricultural value chain actors on agro-input regulations and supported ECOWAS fertilizer regulatory ratification and ongoing regional experience sharing on Ghana’s fertilizer act and regulation

Fertilizer & Pesticide Sampling Analytical Services Agro Input Regulatory Instrumentation Quality Assurance Compliance ECOWAS Fertilizer Regulations

Deputy Director, GFEP

Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Ghana)

Jan 2013 - Present (13 years 5 months)

Served as Technical Lead/Deputy Director for the Ghana Fertilizer Expansion Programme and supported the Ghana Fertilizer Subsidy Programme as an expert on tender evaluation, quality assurance, stock audit, and fertilizer tracking. Digitized Ghana’s fertilizer regulatory framework and inspected/trained/certified 300+ fertilizer companies and products, and evaluated 400+ crop protection products in

Fertilizer Subsidy Management Quality Assurance Stock Audits Regulatory Digitization Agro Input Regulations