Selassie Atadika Keynote Speaker

Food systems strategist and author translating African food intelligence into decision-ready insight for global leaders
TIME Earth Award honoree, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow, and Yale Global Table Fellow
Forthcoming author, Gather and Feast (St. Martin’s Press, 2027)

Selassie Atadika's Biography

Selassie Atadika is a food systems strategist, author, and TIME Earth Award honoree whose work sits at the intersection of culture, community, and cuisine and their relationship to environment, sustainability, and economic justice in Africa.

Her career spans a decade of humanitarian emergency response with UNICEF across 40 countries, followed by twenty years building, producing, and advising inside African food systems. She founded Midunu, one of Africa’s most internationally recognised culinary enterprises, and Midunu Chocolates, whose landmark collaboration with one of Europe’s oldest and most respected confiseries sold out across all its stores and generated European press without PR spend.

She is a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow (2026), Yale Global Table Fellow (MacMillan Center), and the author of Gather and Feast, forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in 2027. She has spoken at the European Cocoa Association, EAT Stockholm Food Forum, Climate Week NYC, and the World’s 50 Best Talks. Her work has been featured in the Financial Times, CNN, New York Times, BBC, and GaultMillau.

What Selassie brings to a stage is rare: twenty years of living and working inside the food systems she talks about, combined with the intellectual rigour of someone who has explained those systems to UN agencies, development banks, luxury brands, and heads of state. She does not describe Africa from the outside. She translates it from within, with the precision of a strategist and the instinct of a storyteller.

Food Systems as Geopolitics: How What We Eat Became a Strategic Question

How African food systems connect to supply chain risk, trade policy, and boardroom decisions that leaders can no longer leave to procurement teams.

Value at Origin: What the Global Supply Chain Gets Wrong About Africa

A practical framework for closing the origin gap, built from twenty years of working inside West African food systems and cocoa value chains.

The Knowledge Economy We Are Not Counting: Indigenous Intelligence and the Future of Sustainability

Why the most sophisticated food technologies on earth sit in the hands of people most sustainability metrics have never measured, and what that means for organisations serious about resilience.

Contested Authenticity: How Brands Win and Lose Trust at the Source

For luxury brands and businesses with African supply chain exposure, authenticity is now a risk category. What cultural trust actually requires, from someone who has built and licensed an African artisan brand.

Gather and Feast: What the African Table Teaches About Belonging and Shared Purpose

Drawing on her forthcoming book, Selassie examines how genuine cultures of belonging are built and what organisations can learn from the way the African table has nourished community for centuries.

She has worked at the heart of global food systems across Africa, advising UN agencies, development institutions, luxury brands and policymakers on sustainability, economic justice and cultural strategy.
She translates the complexity of African food ecosystems into clear, strategic insight that helps leaders navigate climate risk, supply chains and shifting consumer expectations.
She brings twenty years of lived, on-the-ground experience building and scaling culinary enterprises, offering audiences a rare combination of practitioner expertise and systems-level thinking.
She is an accomplished international speaker, delivering thought-provoking keynotes and conversations at leading forums from Climate Week NYC to the World’s 50 Best Talks.
Her briefings equip organisations to rethink value creation across food, culture and community, enabling more resilient, inclusive and future-facing strategies.

Videos of Selassie Atadika

Selassie Atadika: The Science of New African Cuisine; Science & Cooking 2019

Go Back and Get it Right on Food | Chef Selassie Atadika | EAT Forum 2019

Food, Culture, and Climate Resilience

#50BestTalks: Aftershock

Articles, Media & Podcasts

From the US to Ghana: chef puts African cuisine on the map

Financial Times

The Food Chain

BBC

Ghana chef takes it outdoors for nomadic dining

CNN

Comments & Testimonials

“Selassie is one of the most fascinating, forward-thinking leaders in food, culture, and agriculture. She captivates her audience by mapping the intersections of culturally-inspired delicious food and the resiliency and health of people and the planet. The opportunity to be engaged in her conversation is truly priceless!”

Rafi Taherian, Yale University

“As a visiting speaker in Harvard University’s Science and Cooking program, Chef Selassie Atadika spell-bound us for two days with lectures on the unique thickening properties of African cooking ingredients and inspiring discussions with our students and scientists. She brings enthusiasm, eloquence, and curiosity to the important topic of African gastronomy.”

Pia Sörensen, Harvard University

“Selassie offered fresh, compelling views on topics as varied as culinary authenticity, sustainability, and restaurant accountability at the #50BestTalks event. She is one of the most articulate heralds of African cuisine on the world stage and was also a pleasure to work with.”

Giulia Sgarbi, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants