Head of Research and Advocacy Unit
Shaibu Mustapha is the Head of GIRSAL’s Research and Advocacy Unit, where he provides strategic and analytical leadership for the organization’s research, policy engagement, and advocacy initiatives. He supports evidence-based agricultural finance interventions, coordinates multi-stakeholder platforms, and leads capacity-building programs aimed at strengthening agricultural lending and agribusiness development.
He is an agricultural economist, agribusiness specialist, and development finance professional with over nineteen years of experience in agricultural policy analysis, agribusiness finance, applied research, and stakeholder coordination. His work is focused on generating credible evidence to inform policy reform, strengthening agricultural finance systems, and promoting business-friendly agricultural policies across priority value chains.
At GIRSAL, Shaibu has played a key role in the design and implementation of the Interest Rate Subsidy (IRS) Scheme, which has leveraged over GHS 65 million in credit for agribusiness SMEs across priority value chains, including rice, soybean, tomato, and poultry. He also coordinates partnerships with financial institutions, development partners, and private sector actors, while leading research-driven capacity-building initiatives to support agricultural lending.
Prior to joining GIRSAL, Shaibu served as an Agricultural Economist at the Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. In this role, he contributed to national agricultural investment planning, sector budgeting, public expenditure reviews, trade facilitation reforms, and the monitoring and evaluation of agricultural development projects.
Shaibu holds a Master of Science degree in Development Finance from the University of Ghana Business School, a Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business (Trade Policy) from the University of Adelaide, Australia, a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture (Agribusiness) from the University of Ghana, and a National Diploma in General Agriculture from the University of Ghana. He is a member of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA), the Ghana Association of Agricultural Economists, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and the Global Agritourism Network. He previously served as a member of the Budget Committee of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
