Mrs. Naomi Owusu Appiah joined CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) 22 years ago as a Junior Assistant Librarian and rose to the position of Principal Marketing Officer. She has a B. A. Publishing Studies degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; and obtained an MBA from the same university in 2010. She is a professional Marketer from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG).

She served as Head of the Commercialization Division for 7 years, Head of, the Products Development and Marketing Section for a year, and Training Coordinator of the Institute’s livelihood technologies from 2019 to 2024. As Head of the Commercialization Division, she executed clear-cut strategies aimed at achieving corporate and divisional goals, marketing objectives, and specific marketing efforts geared towards brand enhancement and income generation. She developed and implemented a framework with strategic options for growth which resulted in significant increases in internally generated funds (IGF) for virtually all commercial products and services. From a net income of a little over GH₵ 600,000.00 in 2016, proceeds from the Institute’s IGF significantly rose to over GH₵ 3,000,000.00 within five years under her dynamic leadership.

Over the years, she played a pivotal role in aggressively reactivating the transfer of CSIR-FORIG technologies to the general public through the delivery of training in snail farming, beekeeping, and mushroom cultivation; with over 4,000 Ghanaians and foreign nationals as beneficiaries of training programs. More than 65% of all trainees currently own small to medium-scale farms, with about 10% into the commercial production of snails, honey, and mushrooms.

 Between 2020 and 2023, three (3) CSIR-FORIG-trained snail farmers received awards during the National Farmers’ Day Celebration in the New Adumasa, Koforidua, and Nsawam Adoagyiri Districts of the Ashanti and Eastern Regions of Ghana. The DoC is currently leading several donor-funded projects for ‘enhancing technology transfer, training, and livelihood improvement program’ to the tune of approximately USD 150,000.00.

Regarding awards, her efforts as a ‘Gamechanger’ concerning strategic marketing interventions made, earned her the CSIR-FORIG Director’s Special Award in 2017for her role as a skilled marketer who immensely contributed to increased revenue. In 2022, she was featured in the CSIR Newsletter under the heading ‘Going the Extra Mile’ for her contribution towards the CSIR-FORIG commercialization drive over the years.

Outside the CSIR fraternity, she serves on the Management Board of the Ghana School of Marketing and is a member of the Welfare and Human Resource Sub-Committee. She has two refereed journal articles, four handbooks, ten manuals, and several research and consultancy reports to her credit.