Bochola Sara Arero

Bochola Sara Arero is a climate and agrifood systems advocate from the Indigenous Borana pastoralist community in southern Ethiopia. She is the co-founder of the Africa Youth Pastoralist Initiative (AYPl), which works across Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania to empower over 1 000 youth through climate education, sustainable land management and policy advocacy. Bochola combines grassroots leadership with academic research on agrifood systems, climate migration and ethnobotany, and has contributed to global dialogues through platforms such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Conference of the Parties (COP16). With experience spanning agrifood value chains, storytelling and community resilience, she works to bridge local realities with global policy, advancing land justice and inclusive climate action.