Stephen Otieno serves as Regional Sector Programme Manager (Africa) for the UKAID-funded Urban Climate Action Programme. He joined C40 in 2018, initially working as the Food Systems City Adviser for Nairobi and later transitioned to coordinate C40’s food systems work in Africa as Regional Program Manager. He worked together with city officials and the C40 food team to scope and pilot a flagship regional node for African cities which initiated discussions, identified barriers, and highlighted opportunities for creating resilient and inclusive food systems strategies.
He has also served as Senior Manager, Climate Action Planning for Africa. In this role, he supported C40 cities under the CAP Africa Programme to finalize and deliver city climate action plans and assist with post-CAP planning and mainstreaming actions.
Prior to joining C40 Cities, Stephen was a Research Fellow at the East African Institute of the Aga Khan University, where he coordinated the implementation of an Urban Food Systems project in East Africa funded by Global Affairs Canada. He has previously worked at UNEP’s Department of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) and the African Conservation Centre.
A recipient of the 2017 Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee scholarship, Stephen is also an alumnus of the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo – Canada, and a past Visiting Research Scholar in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Canada.
Stephen holds a B.A. in Urban Planning and an M.A. in Environmental Planning & Management from the University of Nairobi. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Nairobi, focusing on “Environmental performance of food systems,” funded by the Swiss National Research Foundation, University of Bern, and CETRAD-Kenya.