Toyin Saraki Joins Bayer Sustainability Council

Bayer AG has announced the appointment of the founder and president of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs.Toyin Ojora Saraki, as a member of its Sustainability Council.

Saraki joins a distinguished group of global experts tasked with advancing the company’s sustainability strategy, with a focus on health equity, food security, and climate resilience.

The restructuring of Bayer’s independent Sustainability Council was unveiled on Monday, with five new members welcomed into the advisory body.

Alongside Mrs Saraki, the new appointees include Facundo Etchebehere, Lisa Lange, Philipp Roesler, and Cori Wittman Stitt. The Council provides high-level guidance to Bayer’s leadership, helping to shape and monitor the company’s progress towards its global sustainability goals, the council said on Tuesday.

Her appointment brings more than two decades of experience in maternal, newborn, and child health, gender equity, and the strengthening of community health systems across Africa and worldwide.

“It is an honour to join Bayer’s Sustainability Council at such a pivotal moment for our planet and its people,” Mrs Saraki said.

“As we look to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, our collective responsibility is to ensure that sustainability is not an abstract ideal but a lived reality, especially for the most vulnerable populations.

“In this spirit of being Stronger Together, I look forward to contributing my insights from frontline reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition, and to strengthening the link between community health systems and corporate sustainability commitments.”

The restructured Council will work closely with Bayer’s internal sustainability teams and operational groups to accelerate progress on the company’s 2030 targets, which include advancing regenerative agriculture, building climate resilience, and improving access to healthcare.

Mrs Saraki joins a multidisciplinary team of sustainability leaders, with continuing members such as Professor Ashok Gulati (India), Professor Christian Klein (Germany), Carolyn Miles (USA), and Dante Pesce Gonzalez (Chile). Together, the Council embodies Bayer’s Health for All, Hunger for None approach, bridging sectors and disciplines to create lasting impact.

Through her leadership at the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and advisory roles with international institutions, Mrs Saraki has consistently championed the alignment of public health delivery with human rights, gender justice, and sustainable development. Her appointment underscores the importance of African leadership and frontline expertise in shaping global sustainability priorities.