Prince Aly Muhammad joined the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) at the beginning of this year, following his graduation from Harvard University in 2023. He is working with AKF leadership on several thematic areas with a focus on economic pathways and youth engagement initiatives.
From 31 July to 3 August, he travelled to Gujarat to work with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in India on several projects, including solar-powered irrigation, community forestry, cooperative farming, youth skills development, enterprise creation, and youth employment. The trip followed his visits in July to Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi with Prince Rahim.
AKRSP was established in India in 1983 to address poverty and socio-economic development in the most marginalised rural communities in India. Through intensive community-driven work, AKRSP helps to create new economic opportunities while protecting the environment in more than 3,200 villages across Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, benefiting 700,000 households.
Prince Aly Muhammad held meetings with youth micro-entrepreneurs about the expansion of their businesses, upgrading of their skills, and the ways in which AKRSP can better support them. On the environment, a key focus is how to replicate solar-powered irrigation systems to expand the availability of clean energy, increase agricultural output, and improve sustainable water management.
The visit to the Netrang region in Gujarat came 35 years after Mawlana Hazar Imam had first visited the area. Prince Aly Muhammad planted a tree in a microforest a few steps from where Princess Zahra had also planted one 25 years ago. In India and elsewhere, AKDN’s Microforest Initiative works with communities to help plant diverse, rapidly-growing small forests that produce both climate and economic benefits. Jamats in East Africa and South Asia partner with AKDN agencies on this type of work under Ismaili CIVIC.
From 13 to 17 August, Prince Aly Muhammad visited Nairobi, Kenya, for work by AKF and AKFED (the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development) on regenerative agriculture. The Maendeleo programme supports more than 5,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya to reduce cost, increase yields, and improve health, while safeguarding the natural environment.
Prince Aly Muhammad also discussed AKF’s plans to boost household renewable energy use, foster youth enterprise, and take greater advantage of climate financing.
In addition, he visited East Africa Healthcare, a new pharmaceuticals company that, when commissioned, will positively impact health outcomes and add to economic growth in the region; Frigoken, a company sponsored by AKFED, and which is the largest export-oriented vegetable processing company in East Africa; and Diamond Trust Bank’s digital banking and sustainability work.
