Farai Maguwu is the founding Director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), a leading organization working on improved governance of natural resources in Zimbabwe. He has done extensive research and documentation on human rights abuses and illicit trade in diamonds in Zimbabwe. In 2011 Farai was arrested for his human rights work, charged and detained for 40 days by the Zimbabwean government. In November 2011 Human Rights Watch honored him with the prestigious Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

He was also honored by Rapaport, a clean diamond campaigner, for protecting artisanal diamond miners in Zimbabwe’s Marange region. Farai is a PhD candidate at the School of Developmental Studies, University of Kwazulu Natal and holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Center for Peace Studies in Austria and a Master in Peace and Governance from Africa University where he also obtained his Bachelor of Arts with Education Degree. He regularly speaks at conferences on conflict diamonds and alternatives to mining.