Christie Peacock has over 40 years experience of agricultural research and development in Africa. She first arrived in Kenya in 1979 as an agricultural student working in Kenya's remote northern regions. She returned a year later to carry out her doctoral research, this time living with the Maasai people. In 1988, after a few years in South-East Asia, she returned to Africa, in Ethiopia, where she launched a number of Farm Africa's programs. Christie rose to become Farm Africa's Chief Executive Officer in 1999: over the eleven years that followed, she redefined the organizations strategic direction, grew income four-fold and transformed it to become a major professional development organization. She left the position to found Sidai Africa Ltd in 2011. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Reading, UK and received the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.