Daouda Keita is the Liaison and Network Agent for Government Relations in myAgro’s Mali office. The 37-year-old husband and father of 2 joined myAgro in May 2014. As a Liaison and Network Agent, Daouda is responsible for connecting with community officials (mayors, deputies) throughout the different areas where myAgro works. He also supports communication between Village Entrepreneurs and Field Coordinators.
Daouda is one of the longest-serving field staff in the Mali office and a strong example of a myAgro employee who has grown within the organization.
“I started working as a Monitoring Intern at myAgro, then I became an Expansion Intern where we worked in the expansion in the area of Sido, Yanfolila, and Bougouni,” he said. “From there I became a Field Agent, then Supervisor, and finally Field Coordinator before joining the Government and Partnerships Department.”
He joined myAgro motivated by the desire to find a job to take care of himself and his family. He also had the desire to work and gain experience in rural areas like his father, who worked as an education coordinator and spent most of his career in rural areas.
Daouda enjoys that his work allows him to communicate with local elected officials and different partners to promote the work and increase the visibility of myAgro.
Daouda believes that joining myAgro has supported him in developing his professional skills.
“myAgro has taught me many things that I can’t list,” he said. “I would say that I have learned a lot in the area of leadership, especially in managing teams, achieving objectives, and boosting sales figures, also I have learned to better control myself in situations and also to respect my superiors.”
During his time at myAgro, he was inspired by two people: Anushka Ratnayake, myAgro’s Founder and CEO, and Hamadou Samounou, Daouda’s former supervisor.
“My main source of motivation at myAgro is Anushka. I enjoyed working with her, especially because of her qualities of punctuality, achievement of objectives, self-control in any situation, and sense of understanding,” he said. “Also, I was inspired by my boss Samounou who stands out by his way of working, his rigor, his courage, and his enthusiasm to reach his goals.”
Daouda’s goal is to continue to work hard and prove himself to grow within myAgro. and his advice for his colleagues, always be working to achieve your goals.
“All I can give as advice to another person is that at myAgro you have to be dynamic, courageous, professional, optimistic, and always aim to achieve your goal,” he says to advise any person wishing to strive at myAgro.
