Abdul K. Dumbuya, an award-winning serial entrepreneur and global youth leader, started the idea of CGN-FOODS in the early days of 2017 while studying law with his friend (Umaru Afiz A. Sesay) at the University of Makeni-UNIMAK as a social enterprise known as CONCERNED GENERATION NETWORK (CGN). His vision was to help support rural ginger farmers with farm inputs, and modern-day farm skills training, through the formation of rural farmers’ cooperative societies and the processing of ginger rhizome into an economically preservable powder. By the end of 2018, both founding members (Abdul K. Dumbuya and Umaru Afiz A. Sesay) successfully registered CONCERNED GENERATION NETWORK as a company limited by guarantee under the laws of Sierra Leone. In 2019, two friends of his (Nekin Palmer and Agustine SY. Matturi also joined the team, who became supporting co-founding members, after joining the Young African Leadership Initiatives-YALI Regional Leadership Center-West Africa in 2018. In 2019, CGN won the YALI Alumni Innovation Fund. In 2020, Abdul became a top 20 Youth Entrepreneur in Africa through the Anzisha Prize.
In the early days of 2022, the founding members decided to expand and extract the pure business operations of CGN to form what we have today as CGN-FOODS; an agri-based company addressing global food insecurities by merging agricultural empowerment and agro-processing.
CGN-FOODS, an agri-based leader, has made substantial strides in alleviating food insecurities through a multi-faceted approach. Since inception, we’ve successfully formed and supported 25 Rural Farmers’ Cooperative Associations comprising 7 members, with 5 rural women farmers and two rural men farmers in each group, empowering countless farmers with collaborative resources and knowledge. We also built an agro-food-processing center with a bakery that bakes gingerbread and other foods in Makeni northern Sierra Leone.
Our agro-processing initiatives have significantly impacted the market and the lives of our partner farmers and beneficiaries (school-going pupils of rural ginger farmers) from our social corporate Responsibility. By transforming ginger rhizomes into economically preservable products such as ginger powder, ginger cake, and gingerbread, we’ve added value to their produce and provided a sustainable solution to post-harvest losses.
In 2021, Abdul became a Top 26 Agripreneurs in Africa- GoGettaz AgriPreneur Prize, a Winner at the Tony Olumelo Entrepreneurship Program in Africa 2021, A Young Global Changer 2022 by Global Solutions Initiatives (Berlin Germany), a United People Global Sustainability Leader 2022 by United People Global (Geneva Switzerland), Winner at Youth Innovation Challenge (Sierra Leone, 2022 by SOS Children’s Villages & The Ministry of Youth Affairs Sierra Leone), A Biashara Entrepreneur 2023 by United People Global (Geneva Switzerland), and The Anzisha Prize Three (3) years Leadership and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program 2020- 2023 in Africa. Mr. Dumbuya graduated with the following awards; Showed Excellence In Leadership and Entrepreneurship Award 2024, and Most Interactive Fellowship Award 2024.
Currently, Mr. Dumbuya serves as a founding member and Executive Director at TIMFALLADUL FOUNDATION, an NGO that provides educational and health support to rural school-going pupils of Sierra Leone through the establishment and equipment of rural school libraries, building of state of the earth toilet facilities for rural school.
To find out more, kindly click on the website link https://timfalladulfoundation.org/ and Co-Founder at Drip Store SL LTD. Make sure to also check out their online and offline sneaker store at www.dripstoresl.com
