Maame Ekua Manful

Doctoral Researcher, Technological University Dublin and Founder, Sweetpot Yoghurt


Maame is passionate about applying the principles of food science to improve  livelihoods through nutrition-sensitive food product development, food safety, research, and entrepreneurship. 

She served as the West Africa Regional Coordinator at Thought For Food (TFF) where she managed 100+ local Ambassadors in 10 countries from 2019 to 2021, advising on the organisation’s overall strategy and program while developing strategic partnerships.
At TFF, she was a startup mentor, led strategic initiatives and convened an Independent UN FSS dialogue focused on "Youth  Action and  Collaboration For Food Systems Change". She was a Guide for the recent Food Systems Game Changers Lab where she led Cohorts 21 (Building Food Literacy through Education) and 24 (Promoting Food Safety and Traceability)  to develop their Action Agendas in Support of the UN Food Systems Summit. 

Maame spun her Bsc. project work into Sweetpot Yoghurt, which produces a bio-fortified yoghurt with orange fleshed sweetpotatoes  to help curb vitamin A deficiency in Africa which also provides a market for sweetpotato farmers. She has been awarded by Johnson and Johnson, the International Potato Centre and British Council (Ghana) for her work in this area.

She holds a BSc. in Food Science and Technology from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, a Master’s Degree in Food Science and Engineering at ISA Lille, France, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at TU Dublin, Ireland, in the area of food safety, regulatory affairs and green marketing on upcycled ingredients for nutraceutical and cosmetic applications. As a passionate leader  in the Agriculture and Food Technology space, Maame believes everyday food fortification can generate lasting impacts on generational malnutrition issues.