growing talents: youth in agriculture
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Youth in Agriculture
40 years on, the CGIAR looks at agriculture through the eyes of the under 40s Foreword The voices in this collection of stories tell us that many young people first embark on a career in agriculture because they feel personally driven to make a difference in addressing the current and future challenges facing mankind. Young people today are far more aware and keen to make a lasting impact to meet these challenges, not just in their own generation but also for the future. Such young professionals often bring with them new ideas, boundless energy and a desire to make a difference that will leave a mark well into the future. Unfortunately, many young people don’t have a voice. We feel strongly that there has to be a place at the table for youth. While there is no substitute for the experience, knowledge and wisdom that comes with age, young people can add a different perspective and offer fresh ideas. It is vital that we listen to their voices, realize their ability to contribute to agriculture research for development (AR4D), and involve them in activities that will help determine their future. We can do this by actively engaging them in efforts to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and health, and sustainably manage natural resources.
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With the launch of the United Nations’ International Year of Youth on 12th August 2010, the ICT-KM Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) began recognizing the achievements of some of the youth they encountered through their work by giving them a space to talk on the Program’s blog. As the CGIAR began celebrating its 40th anniversary, we felt it was timely to repackage this series of diverse interviews featuring young people under the age of 40. This booklet highlights the work of 13 highly talented individuals; people who are already making a difference in the AR4D arena. Each interview gives a unique insight into their roles, perspectives, experiences and aspirations … We can see ourselves, our experiences, and our struggles in many of these young inspiring individuals, and hope that younger generations will also be inspired by their stories and perhaps be encouraged to make similar contributions. We also hope that these young professionals will stimulate others professionals and also young farmers to make a lasting difference in the lab, classroom, greenhouse, trial-plot, field, water basin or forest. Our thanks go to all our interviewees for giving up their valuable time to talk to us, Nadia Manning-Thomas for facilitating the interviews, and Mary Schneider for the text. Lloyd Le Page Enrica Porcari CEO Senior Information and Knowledge Officer Consortium of International Agricultural Research Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers Centers
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Table of Contents Foreword ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2 The good, the bad and the ugly: a closer look at opportunities, challenges and issues
Courtney Paisley ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..4 Youth making agricultural knowledge travel
#1 – Nadia Manning-Thomas ……………………………………………………………………………………6 #2 – Evelyn Katingi ……………………………………………………………………………………………………8
Mapping for the future: youth and spatial information for ARD # 1 – Stephen Kibet ……………………………………………………………………………………………..…10
#2 – Silvia Renn ………………………………………………………………………………………………………12 Learning together: youth involved in training and capacity building
Grace Mwaura ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….14 Youth and innovation
Eva Schiffer …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16 Concerned with climate change
#1 – Lieven Claessens …………………………………………………………………………………………….18 #2 – Andy Jarvis ………………………………………………………………………………………………….....20
Carrying on the fight for gender equality
#1– Jemimah Njuki …………………………………………………………………………………………………22 #2– Alessandra Galié ………………………………………………………………………………………………24
Behind the scenes: Youth in laboratories
#1 - Teddy Amuge.......................................................................................................26 #2 - Soroush Parsa ………………………………………………………………………………………………….28
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The good, the bad and the ugly – a closer look at opportunities, challenges and issues – Courtney Paisley
Giving a voice to young people
Sometimes, all it takes to change the course of our lives is a little whisper that stirs something within us, or an image flashing for a moment across a television screen, or, in the case of Courtney Paisley, a few well-placed words uttered during a coffee break. For it was during a short break from her work that this Canadian national heard the words that would ultimately lead her to cross continents to take up her present position as the Coordinator of the Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD).
Filling a need When Courtney first began her work with the ICT-KM Program’s Online Learning Resources (OLR) project, she had never even heard of YPARD. But all of that changed when she attended a coffee break presentation four years ago at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya. “The YPARD Coordinator at that time was visiting my Center,” Courtney recalls, “and he really grabbed my attention when he took the floor and said, ‘I want to speak to everyone under forty in the room.’ As a young professional, I was curious to find out more. That’s when I learned that there is an organization that gives a voice to young people involved in agricultural research for development (AR4D) by giving them an opportunity to air their views.” YPARD especially appealed to Courtney because, like many other young people embarking on a career in AR4D, she felt she was being passed over by senior staff members during the more important discussions relevant to her work. Of course, she also admits that a lack of confidence had a role to play in her silence too. “I didn’t have much experience back then, and I wasn’t confident that my opinions and views were all that well-informed or even relevant to certain discussions,” she says. “Still, I was rarely asked for my input. I think it’s important to encourage youth and make them feel that their views are useful and helpful. YPARD can help build up their confidence by allowing them to tentatively present their ideas online for feedback from their peers before sharing their thoughts with their superiors.” Making a detour Shortly after joining YPARD, Courtney, who has a Master of Science from the University of Manchester (UK) in Environmental Governance, left the CGIAR to focus on environmental education programs on the ground, working with organizations like Oxfam and SolarAid. Her busy schedule gave her little time to even think about YPARD. Until, that is to say, the position of Coordinator was advertised in early 2010.
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“When I saw the advertisement, something just clicked,” says Courtney. “I immediately saw what was needed and felt that the requirements matched my background extremely well. At the time, I really didn’t want to leave Kenya, but I was drawn to the position. I thought I could help connect the voice of youth with larger debates and discussions, something that still appears to be lacking four years after my initial involvement with YPARD. Although there’s a lot of understanding in the AR4D community that young people are important and that they should be more involved, it’s just a lot of talk with not much coming from young people themselves.”
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So, a few months after applying for the Coordinator’s position, this versatile young woman packed her bags and headed for Rome, where she is hosted by GFAR at FAO headquarters. Knowledge sharing and ICTs YPARD focuses heavily on knowledge sharing, and Courtney’s skills in this area will be an asset to her new position – through her earlier work with the ICT-KM Program, she familiarized herself with various knowledge sharing methodologies and tools that can now be used to best effect. “When I was working on the OLR project, I studied ways of sharing resources,” she says. “As a result, I try to avoid the replication of activities. For example, within YPARD we are looking to increase links with other networks, taking advantage of resources that have already been created by others; and conversely, sharing our resources with others. My work with the project also helped me facilitate online sessions. Sharing knowledge, information, ideas, opinions and funding news online will also help us build a solid network.” Courtney also acknowledges the importance of ICT and social media in expanding YPARD’s networking. As she says, “They are both very important because YPARD is global, with members all over the world. It’s definitely the key way to link people together – and not just to create our own network, but to also use existing networks and the ways that people already communicate with each other. We also plan to change our method of dissemination of the funding news from a newsletter to a blog.” Building a network of value This young woman speaks enthusiastically about her new role and the possibility of helping youth to equip themselves for the best possible start as they embark on a career in AR4D. “We want every young professional to know about YPARD; to know there is a place where they can find and share information, and look for opportunities. By bringing youth to the table at different discussions, encouraging members to tell their friends and have them stream relevant discussions back to the community, we will surely become a network of value.” There’s no doubt that Courtney will be successful in her new role. If you are interested in finding out more about YPARD, please visit the website at http://www.ypard.net or send Courtney an email at [email protected] Photo: Courtney Paisley
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Youth making agricultural knowledge travel #1 – Nadia Manning-Thomas A very special knowledge sharing specialist
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When it comes to knowledge sharing, Nadia Manning-Thomas just can’t seem to get enough. She first worked with the CGIAR ICT-KM Program between 2007 and 2009 as the Project Leader of the Knowledge Sharing in Research project, and came onboard again in 2010 as a Knowledge Sharing in Research Specialist while also working on the global initiative for Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD). As if juggling these two positions isn’t enough, this energetic young woman still finds time to play an active role on the Steering Committee of the Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD).
Making agricultural knowledge travel Nadia likens her present work to that of a travel agent, as she focuses on learning about, promoting and supporting the implementation of appropriate pathways for making CGIAR agricultural knowledge travel. In particular, she works on improving knowledge sharing in research by trying to find out how to motivate researchers to share knowledge more, while also exploring and promoting ways in which researchers and research projects can effectively share their knowledge. “The knowledge that exists within various institutions, people and places often stays within the small spheres in which it is generated and is not widely shared, limiting wider learning and the enhancement of practices,” she says. “Some say we need better knowledge sharing, others talk about coherence in information systems, but all we want is for valuable knowledge about agriculture to travel: to move from one person to another, from one place to another, from one institution to another … “This is where not only traditional media but also the growing range of ICTs and social media tools have a role to play. Such tools offer us new ways of having conversations and collaborating with others across geographical spreads, while helping to keep travel costs and our carbon foot prints to a minimum. My heart is always in face-to-face interactions, but if we can get similar benefits from virtual methods, then we will be able to increase our interactions with a wider and more diverse set of people.” YPARD involvement Nadia’s interest and involvement in youth in AR4D stems from her own experiences. “The voices of young scientists in the CGIAR, my own included, are not always being heard,” she explains. “I’ve sometimes felt hesitant about putting up my hand or saying something or being chosen to have a more direct role in meetings. I’ve worked hard to give myself more confidence to overcome that. In that regard, YPARD is trying to partner with other groups to give training in leadership and presentation skills, while exploring other training avenues that can benefit young people.” The YPARD Steering Committee draws mainly on Nadia’s knowledge sharing in research experience and her exposure to and involvement with ICTs. When she first joined the organization, she advocated the development of a more innovative communications strategy, which resulted in a new
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website. So when they were looking for a new YPARD Coordinator, she felt strongly that the terms of reference should mention the need for strong communication and knowledge sharing skills, as most of the Coordinator’s work involves getting the word out there through multiple avenues, using tools like social media, and finding innovative ways to reach young people and inform organizations about the role of young people. “YPARD is trying to use a number of different channels for sharing and brokering relevant and useful information for young professionals,” she says. “Although our website offers information on job opportunities, funding opportunities, student opportunities, etc, we have found that young people want more than just information pushed from our side. They also want to discuss things with each other – like what it’s like to be a young person in agriculture, university curricula, what they are learning (and not learning) and their views on key topics in agriculture. We need to see YPARD knowledge as a combination of the ideas, perspectives and experiences of all of our members, and we need to ensure convenient access to this collective resource if it is to be of benefit. “We’ve been looking at ways of facilitating these kinds of discussions: pulling together ideas from our young professionals, packaging them and sharing them in proposals, projects and big agricultural development meetings and conferences, so we can represent the views of the youth on things like climate change, sustainable agriculture and conservation agriculture. We’ve also fought hard to secure a certain number of places and funding for young professionals at some of the big conferences to give them a greater perspective of how their work contributes to the larger picture.” Changing mindsets “YPARD needs to focus on reaching out, creating engagement and interactions, and keeping abreast of those new social media tools that are being taken up to help knowledge travel,” says Nadia. “Young professionals need to establish a mindset about the value of knowledge sharing and being innovative with communications, learning, and monitoring and evaluation. All of which can prime them to take their growth and embed it into future management policies.” Personal benefits Nadia feels she has benefited greatly from her work both with the Program and with YPARD. “Through the Program I’ve had many opportunities to learn new skills, share my ideas, and grow. As for YPARD, this is the first time I’ve been on a steering committee, so it has been a real learning curve. I never thought I would have had such an opportunity at my age, so this experience has been invaluable. I’ve increased my own skills while expanding my professional network. Also, with all my knowledge sharing work, being part of YPARD gives me another hat and increased credibility as a result of my work with young professionals and my attempts to get them involved. “Overall, whatever I do, whether it be for the Program or for YPARD or for my own personal benefit, it’s all about making knowledge travel.” And it is that attitude that makes Nadia a very special knowledge sharing specialist. Photo: Nadia Manning-Thomas
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Youth making agricultural knowledge travel #2 – Evelyn Katingi The woman behind the map
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Evelyn Katingi is a woman with Africa at her fingertips. With a click of her mouse, a map of the continent appears on her computer screen. At once you can see the breadth of CGIAR ongoing research in Africa: from Tunisia in the north all the way down to South Africa at the tip of the continent, and from the Gambia in the west to Somalia in the east. Her eyes light up when she talks about the map. “CGIAR Ongoing Research lists almost 400 projects from the 15 CGIAR Centers, and more are being added as we speak,” this young Kenyan woman says. “Also, every day, more and more people are visiting the site.” A collaborative effort between the ICT-KM Program and CGIAR
Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Africa, the map shows CGIAR projects: who is doing what, where and with whom. It makes research information accessible to all CGIAR staff and other key stakeholders, thereby facilitating information sharing, promoting partnership opportunities and encouraging collective action. The map’s coverage “Initially, the map was designed to align research activities in eastern and southern Africa,” says Evelyn, “but the more we developed it and the more we continued to gather information, the more it became increasingly difficult not to include projects carried out in other parts of Africa. So the information grew and exploded, and it’s now a research map of Africa. “Plans are also afoot to expand the map’s reach beyond Africa to other areas where the CGIAR is working. One of my personal goals is to have a distributed but linked system with other agriculture information management systems in the world.” Maintaining the map Ask anyone responsible for a map’s content, online or otherwise, and they will tell you about the challenges they encounter maintaining such a resource. Evelyn is no exception. “I’m in charge of collecting information about the map, identifying areas of development, getting users’ feedback about what they think about the map, analyzing it to see if we’re meeting their needs, assessing how best to address some of the needs, and creating relationships with different Centers and key people in charge of updating the map,” she says, all in one breath. “Then, of course, I have to communicate the information on the map, and also maintain the Collective Action blog and contribute news and circulate the Program’s newsletter, which goes a long way to spread news about the map and was recently awarded a bronze medal by the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences in the newsletters class of the 2010 Awards. “Some scientists update the map without me having to remind them; but others need a little nudge,” she says. “This is understandable because there is always competition for users’ time and attention. So I try to encourage them by maintaining a very simple data entry form and easy-to-follow procedures for using the map. As a result of keeping things simple and straightforward,
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anyone can access the information on the map with just a few clicks of their mouse.” At the same time, Evelyn acknowledges the contribution made by the Centers. “Without their participation, the map can’t survive,” she explains.
CGIAR Ongoing Research “I’ve tried to identify focal people in the different Centers who can update their Center’s information, making the process more participatory.” The road to the map Three years ago, when Evelyn knew little about research maps, or blogs or e-newsletters, she began working for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she was employed as an intern for three months. As a fresh graduate with a degree in statistics, she threw herself into her work developing a database of research activities carried out in eastern and southern Africa. Six months later, when a permanent position became available, she jumped at the opportunity. At that time, the Coordinator of the Program was Ravi Prabhu, a man who was instrumental in shaping this young woman’s career. “Ravi wasn’t just my supervisor,” she says, “he was also the one behind the map – I only took full charge of it in 2009. He helped me develop a vision for the map. He had a way of making people feel appreciated, gave credit where it was deserved, and acknowledged everyone who made a contribution. I also wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my current supervisor Bruce Scott, the Director of Partnership and Communication at ILRI who oversees the Program’s activities. He’s always available to offer key strategic decisions on the map. I also worked closely with the ICT-KM Program team, who are always up-to-date with the latest technology and provide excellent ideas to develop the map and address user needs to achieve greater impact.” Get your product right so that people are awed by it – Robin Sharma A fan of motivational speaker Robin Sharma, Evelyn applies his philosophy to the map. “If it’s something good and it’s useable, then people will use it. You have to be passionate about your work, challenge yourself to do better, and take advantage of opportunities.” “Young people should strive and work to upgrade their skills,” says Evelyn, who is pursuing her Master’s degree in Agriculture Information Communication Management. “It’s also important to have a vision. My vision is to enhance the efficiency of key information and knowledge resources among the CGIAR Centers and their partners to increase the impact of agricultural research.” Looks like she’s already got that road mapped out.
Photo: Evelyn Katingi
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Mapping for the future: youth and spatial information for ARD # 1 – Stephen Kibet A passion of the heart
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Growing up in rural Kenya, Stephen Kibet witnessed first-hand the effects of soil erosion on the land surrounding his home village of Iten. Deep trenches mar the once picturesque landscape and have rendered valuable farming land useless. Each year, wind and rain ravage the land further, causing nutrient-rich top soil to be swept down the region’s steep slopes, straight into the Keiro River. Soil erosion and landslides not only lead to the destruction of property and a decrease in agriculture production, they also claim lives. “Late last year, five people lost their lives in landslides in the Kerio Valley,” explains Stephen. “This led to the
evacuation of people in lowland areas to the higher areas of Iten. Soil erosion also causes heavy boulders to roll down the slopes, rendering some roads dangerous and/or impassable, especially during heavy rain. The Kerio River is also experiencing reduced water levels due to the landslides, which in turn greatly affects the livelihoods and wildlife that depend on it as a source of water. According to an article on the causes and consequences of soil erosion in Kenya, nature washes away some 9.3 billion tons of soil a year. But when man interferes, the rate goes up to around 24 billion tons a year. Kenya’s soil erosion problems stem from its semi-arid climate (in the interior), the fuel wood crisis and poor land management and agricultural practices.” Knowledge is power It was against such a backdrop that Stephen grew up, making him determined to devote his life to helping his community contain soil erosion. The same sort of determination that he applies to most aspects of his life also ensured him a place at Kenya’s Moi University. Currently, he is the only person from his village pursuing tertiary education. “Although families in my district have begun investing in their children’s education, the number of students who join institutions of higher learning is still very low compared to other districts,” he says. “Most students finish their studies in form four and then venture into agricultural farming, with a small number engaging in trading activities.” When Stephen began studying geography at university, he was exposed to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the first time, enabling him to explore further his idea of applying his knowledge to help his community. “At last, I was given some insights into reducing soil erosion in my district. And ever since then, my work with GIS has become a passion in my heart,” says this young man. “With my zeal for this field, I began looking at ways of revising a soil erosion model that I came across during a university course on Hydrology and Watershed Management. Such models can provide us with a sophisticated tool for the selection of appropriate soil conservation practices.” AAGW as a catalyst Shortly thereafter, Stephen and his model (The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation -RUSLE) received the sort of exposure that many of his peers can only dream of. As he recalls: “Fortune comes to one’s life at a specific time and at a specific place. It came to me when I attended the Africa Agricultural GIS Week (AAGW) 2010, a conference that brings GIS experts, proponents and students together to look at ways of improving agriculture through the use of location specific
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information. The event, which took place in June 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya, adopted a Share Fair format that called for presenters to showcase their GIS projects, ideas and experiences. I saw this as an opportunity to introduce my RUSLE model. As a first-time presenter at an international event, I initially felt inadequate and uneasy.
Soil erosion in Kenya
However, the warm welcome and lively interactions I received from the organizers and other participants soon put me at ease. Then my spirits were lifted even higher when others began taking an interest in my idea.” Response to the RUSLE model After his presentation, Stephen received a prize for the best first-time presenter, which also helped motivate other geospatial scholars present. “I have been receiving messages from people from different backgrounds complimenting the idea and wanting to know how the model can be used to predict soil erosion on their land,” says Stephen. “Others have shared ideas on how to improve the model and use it to predict soil loss in a wider area, and yet others want to know more about how the model works. Some of my classmates have also been inspired to major in GIS after discovering its usefulness as a decision-making tool. Most of them have developed GIS-related projects aimed at resolving agricultural problems. The award has also motivated me to become a GIS analyst in the field of agriculture. My classmates now know all about AGCommons and the other organizations involved in AAGW 2010. The road ahead Stephen hopes to be able to use the RUSLE model to compute soil erosion in his district and share the results at the next AAGW. He would like to have been able to carry out research using his model as a fourth year university project, but financial constraints preclude this project from happening. Instead, he has opted to map the passion fruit woodiness virus in the same area (Kamariny Division) in the Rift Valley Province. “Given a chance, I would also like to carry out research by computing the amount of soil deposited in the Keiro River,” says Stephen. “Currently, there are no available statistics on this, even though it is one of the issues that have been of great concern to me and my community.” Even when Stephen returns home during breaks from his university, he finds it difficult to sit still. Instead, he has initiated a program that encourages school children in his village to study hard so they can help their families and their community in the future. He also shares ideas and insights with them so they know what university has to offer them. We probably haven’t heard the last of Stephen Kibet. Photos: Steven Kibet
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Mapping for the future: youth and spatial information for ARD #2 – Silvia Renn Using GIS to overcome Malawi’s water woes
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Take a short drive from Silvia Renn’s office in Zomba, Malawi, and you will see the signs of a country under siege. As you travel across this small landlocked country in southeast Africa, lush greenery and fields of ripening maize suddenly give way to barren stretches of land. If you look to the horizon, the thing that strikes you the most is the lack of trees. “Much of Malawi has been stripped of trees to provide wood and charcoal for cooking,” says Silvia, a research analyst and GIS (geographical information systems) specialist with the CGIAR’s WorldFish Center. “This plays a huge role in the climate change that is taking place in the country. Fewer trees mean less water
can be held in the ground; water that is necessary for farming. This is where the Lake Chilwa Project hopes to have an impact on rural communities around the Lake. In the last 50 years, Lake Chilwa has dried up completely (twice!) and each time fishermen and farmers have had to adapt. The project, which also has large farming and forestry components, looks at previous and possible future climate change adaptation strategies. Small-scale irrigation Another Worldfish project in Malawi in which Silvia is involved looks at small scale irrigation in combination with fishponds. “The project looks at water management issues in the face of climate change,” says Silvia. “I’m using GIS to model climate change. Presently, we’re setting up stations to measure temperature, discharge from rivers, evaporation, etc. We’ll also be looking closely at how the people in this region actually manage water. For example, in Chingale, people irrigate their land by redirecting rivers. So we’re looking at the best way to manage that water so that the people can get the best benefits. "This project finds out what the farmers are doing and not what we think they should be doing. And then we see what’s actually working; what sort of irrigation schemes they are using and how and which ones are making their fields and ponds more productive. Using spatial information can really help to prioritize what type of land is available, what type of soil, and what types of water availability could influence productive agriculture and aquaculture. We’re providing information, we’re combining it, and then we’re using this combined information to make suggestions to extension agents on where to put fish farms that will actually help the farmers to produce more fish.” Find out more about this project in a video interview with Silvia at Africa Agriculture Geospatial Week (AAGW10). Shaping a career A native of Cologne, Germany, Silvia first became interested in GIS and its applications when she was studying landscape and urban planning at a university in Germany. Part of her coursework involved modeling tidal waves in Australia to see how far they could travel and the number of people who might possibly be affected by them. During this period, the destructive force of the 2004 tsunami in Asia claimed more than 230,000 lives along the length of the Indian Ocean. Like millions of people
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around the globe, Silvia watched the hopeless scenes unfolding on her television screen. As the body count crept ever higher, she felt devastated. “To think that I’d just been looking at wave data and modeling it,” she says. “It was hard to see those models being played out in real life. I knew that a lot of information was already out there about tsunamis, and all it needed was for someone to put it together…” That’s when Silvia decided it might be a good idea to also focus on information management and development. Learning from life’s lessons
After working with WorldFish for more than two years, Silvia sees herself as more of a practitioner than a researcher. “I would like to combine research and practicability,” she says. “Maybe take other people’s research and see how it can fit with what’s actually happening on the ground in Africa, because there’s sometimes a big gap between the work of researchers and the reality facing farmers. Also, I feel that much of the research carried out in Africa doesn’t get back to the farmers, who are often underestimated by researchers. Farmers usually know what they’re doing and have a reason for
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Silvia gathering data in Malawi everything they do, even if those reasons aren’t initially apparent. It’s also difficult to expect farmers to plan long-term (as is often recommended by researchers) if they are engaged in subsistence-level agriculture. Researchers need to make their research more applicable and then get the results of their research out there. In that regard, local knowledge can really help make research more relevant and increase the chances of research outputs being taken up by the farmers.” Collaboration — the way ahead This young woman also believes in the power of collaboration; sharing knowledge and working towards a common goal. “As there are a few CGIAR Centers in Malawi, I feel it would be good if WorldFish had an opportunity to start collaborating with them to see what they’re working on and join forces,” she says. It seems that Silvia might be making some waves of her own in the future.
Photos: Silvia Renn
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Learning together: youth involved in training and capacity building – Grace Mwaura Teaching the children – shaping a generation
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Grace Mwaura is someone who knows all about the power of education and coaching to transform lives. Her own experiences tell her that the best way to empower people is to make them self-sufficient enough to help themselves and society. This attitude is evident in everything that this young woman does, especially her work with the Healthy Learning Programme, an initiative of the Kenyan Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB), and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Grace, an intern at ICRAF’s Nairobi campus, works with 30
primary schools in eight districts in the dry lands of Kenya. Many of these schools receive assistance under the School Meals Programme of the UN World Food Program (WFP). One school meal a day is often all it takes to ensure that children don’t drop out of school to help their families earn money to put food on the table, and Grace’s work makes a difference by complementing these WFP efforts. “The Healthy Learning Program focuses on training young people as early as possible, giving them the necessary skills to address issues relating to nutrition, food production and environmental conservation,” explains Grace. “We encourage schools to start up small projects based on the challenges they are facing. Such projects range from water harvesting, to tree growing (including fruit trees), to establishing kitchen gardens, to beekeeping. The schools also get technical support from the relevant ministries and development partners. “Entire communities and neighbouring schools have learnt from these projects. Parents visit their children’s schools to see what we are doing and take the lessons learnt home with them. Teachers are also using the projects to teach all their class subjects. For example, they can teach arithmetic by looking at the amount of water needed to irrigate a small school garden and asking the children how much water would be needed for a garden, say, 2.5 times that size. It’s a more exciting and relevant way of learning for them.” From university campus to international stage Before joining ICRAF in February 2010, Grace took a year off after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences to focus on an initiative close to her heart. “While I was on campus, I led an environmental club that spearheaded the establishment of a network of Kenyan-wide university environmental groups called the Intervarsity Environment Network (IVEN),” says this industrious young woman. “Shortly after, my African youth colleagues and I decided to build another network for youth groups across Africa working on climate change. We were further motivated because there was support for African youth both within national and international climate change policy processes. Thus, the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) was born to empower, ensure and enhance the participation of African youth in the climate change agenda. “I spent all of 2009 helping build the movement across more African countries,” says Grace. “The year ended with more than 50 African youth participating at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the biggest number
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from Africa to ever attend and play a role in international climate change negotiations. AYICC is now recognized by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) and is also a part of the YOUNGO (youth NGOs ) within the UNFCCC.” Mentoring future mentors
While Grace talks enthusiastically about her role nurturing other young people, she also acknowledges the people who have mentored her. “One person who has been instrumental in shaping my professional life is my supervisor at ICRAF, Tom Vandenbosch, the Programme Coordinator of the Healthy Learning Programme,” she says. “He keeps everyone’s spirits high and makes you want to be the best in
Grace giving a talk at one of the Healthy Learning Programme schools everything you do. He has also helped me grow career-wise by encouraging me to get involved in activities outside my work. He is truly a champion of youth, and I appreciate everything he has done for me.” Oxford and beyond In October 2011, Grace will begin studying for her Masters in Nature Society & Environmental Policy at Oxford University, England, on a Rhodes scholarship. She sees this as another opportunity to improve her leadership skills and work with other young people. Looking ahead, Grace would like to focus on capacity building in other youth. “I believe in the power of young people,” she says. “I think it’s important that young people find out what it is that they really want to do with their lives. Then they need to start small. After all, you don’t just wake up one day and become the president.” A few years ago, Grace began her journey by organizing clean-ups on her university campus and putting up posters informing other students about environmental issues, and now she is ready to take on the challenges of Oxford. It is not clear what the future holds for her, but there is little doubt that she will continue to make a difference in the lives of many people.
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Photos: Grace Mwaura and Wangari Mathenge (VVOB)
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Youth and innovation – Eva Schiffer Realizing a dream
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As a young girl, Eva Schiffer was once asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Without hesitation, she said, “I want to be a writer and I want to feed the children in Africa.” But, as often happens with childhood aspirations, she soon forgot what it was that she wanted to be. It was only many years later, as a successful, award-winning consultant, that she discovered that she had inadvertently realized those dreams. When Eva first travelled from her native Germany to Africa, it was not to fulfil a childhood dream but to carry out research work as an intern with a nature conservation organization in Namibia in 1997. This endlessly curious woman was fascinated
by what she saw and returned some years later to carry out field research for her PhD, a stint that saw her living in a Volkswagen Combi in the Namibia desert for four months. The woman with the toys It was while she was in Namibia that Eva came up with an idea that would germinate and grow into the early version of Net-Map, an interview-based mapping tool that helps stakeholders understand, visualize, discuss, and improve situations in which different people influence outcomes. “This early version of Net-Map used influence towers, represented on a map by checkers and toy figurines, to show visually the level of influence people have within community-based networks,” says Eva. Later, after finishing her doctorate studies, she took this early model with her to her first job interview at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “I was very fortunate that the panel with whom I spoke that day in 2004 shared my enthusiasm,” says this social scientist and facilitator. “They appreciated my method and saw that I was a good fit for their work with the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). I also think those months spent living in the desert probably told them that I wouldn’t have a problem living in a small town in Ghana for three years.” The missing link So Eva went off to Bolgatanga in Ghana armed with her ‘box of toys’ and tried to use her method to understand water governance in the country’s Upper East Region. “But something was missing,” she says. “And I couldn’t work out what it was. Then the Program held a workshop in Accra, where participants used network mapping. Shortly after that, I woke up one morning and knew that social networks and the influence towers had to go together.” Helping hands along the way Eighteen months after coming up with the network mapping tool, and despite it having application potential beyond the scope of her work in Ghana (two others had already used it in their work), Eva was ready to move on to something else. However, a colleague persuaded her otherwise. Then Klaus von Grebmer, IFPRI’s Head of Communications, suggested that she turn her method into a product. “He said I would have limited impact if I continued going around with my cookie tin full of toys; he felt I should give my tool a name and a brand. Through him, I was able to get some seed money to develop it further. Then a number of people at IFPRI began using Net-Map in their projects, giving it even more credibility.”
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Promising young scientist
The Net-Map Toolbox (above left) developed by Eva Schiffer, and Net-Map showing influence towers and social networks (above right)
For her efforts, Eva was awarded the CGIAR’s Promising Young Scientist of the Year Award in 2008. “The external recognition helped give a strong sense of validity to and appreciation of Net-Map, even though my approach was fundamentally different to the highly quantitative and agronomistic approaches often used by researchers in my field,” she says. ARD and Net-Map Since developing Net-Map, Eva has trained many people to use the tool independently. IFPRI is also incorporating it into the planning processes of a number of projects, while HarvestPlus is using it in a project that looks at nutrient-rich crops and how conditions can be developed at the national level so that these crops are accepted and actually used. Another project, Alive & Thrive, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is currently being evaluated by IFPRI, using Net-Map as the major evaluation method. However, Net-Map is not just confined to AR4D. It can be used in any situation where you have multiple stakeholders with different goals. Its broader applications, outside of agricultural research for development, have already included strategic positioning analysis within a research organization, customer relationship development in a large corporate firm in the US, and network facilitation in the UK health sector. Spreading the word “It’s important to talk about your ideas with others,” says Eva, when asked if she had any advice for other young professionals interested in developing innovative tools. “You never know who can help you. It’s also important to share your finished product and not be afraid that others will steal your ideas. I became an independent consultant in 2008, enabling me to try the tool in many different fields. I believe that if you really want something badly enough, and work towards that goal, it will happen.” From a young girl with a dream, to a young woman with a cookie tin of toys, to a much-sought-after professional in her field, Eva has shown us what can be achieved when you combine a vision with strong determination.
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Photos: Eva Schiffer
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Concerned with climate change #1 – Lieven Claessens A model researcher at work
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When the name Lieven Claessens is mentioned in the CGIAR, everyone’s thoughts immediately turn to the tragic Ugandan landslides that killed more than 300 people and displaced thousands of others last year. You see, Lieven, an environmental scientist with the International Potato Center (CIP), had accurately predicted that these landslides would occur. However, what Lieven was unable to foresee was the magnitude of human suffering that climate change and deforestation would bring to several rural Ugandan communities. Back in March 2010, as the swollen rivers flowing
down Mount Elgon burst their banks, resulting in vast mud slides that wiped out entire villages, he could only watch the stark images unfolding on his television screen with a sense of sadness and frustration. Three years earlier, Lieven had used a soil erosion model (the LAPSUS-LS model), which he had developed during his PhD studies at Wageningen University in The Netherlands, to assess the relationship between the landscape, land use and soil conditions on this mountain. However, the results, which were arrived at using existing data on landslides, were not passed along to policy makers who could have used the information to save lives – simply because the appropriate communication channels were not open to Lieven. Nonetheless, he is heartened to see that action is now being taken. Villagers have begun planting trees on the mountain slopes under a reforestation program
that is helping to reverse soil erosion. (See Lieven’s video interview on these landslides.) Landscape models in practice Today, Lieven, who is based at CIP’s regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, devotes much of his time to developing landscape and agricultural system models, as well as using these same models in his climate change work. An example of the latter is the Participatory development and testing of strategies to reduce climate vulnerability of poor farm households in East Africa through innovations in potato and sweet potato technologies and enabling policies project, which he has been coordinating for more than two years. “It must be the project with the longest name ever,” says this jovial man. “We are now looking at ways of building on our past work by collaborating with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), focusing on Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.” Lessons learned As a result of the Ugandan landslides, Lieven and his colleagues now emphasize the importance of communicating the results of their work to all stakeholders. “A participatory component has been built into my current project from beginning,” he says. “We’ve been talking to the various stakeholders to try to identify the problems they’re facing, what they’re already doing to cope with ongoing climate change and variability, and what they see as potential future adaptation strategies. We’re testing these possible strategies with computer models to see if they might be able to overcome the negative effects of climate change.”
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Lieven and a colleague at work in the field
Lieven, who is also involved in the Tradeoff Analysis Project, which provides tools to assess the tradeoffs and synergies associated with changes in complex agricultural systems, talks enthusiastically about his early involvement with spatial analysis. “I’ve always been fascinated by agriculture and how it can vary globally in terms of soil, water, climate and landscape,” he says. “This fascination began while I was growing up in rural Belgium and eventually led me to study soil science in university, pursue my PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and carry out research in this area. I’ve been working for CIP for six years now and I still use these spatial models and spatial analysis in my work.” Adapting and sharing Although Lieven seems to have slipped effortlessly into his chosen career, he’s the first to admit that it hasn’t been without its challenges. “Since arriving in Africa more than five years ago,” he says, “I’ve had to learn to work across different cultural backgrounds. Initially, I was also challenged to find people working in the same area of research. Fortunately, this has improved and I’ve also found mentors and collaborators in the CGIAR’s Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI).” The future of spatial analysis Lieven plans to keep improving his climate change and agricultural system models. “There’s much to be done to make them more accurate,” he explains. “But I see the importance and the role of spatial analysis in research and also in targeting developmental research efforts. I also see the demand for spatial analysis growing as more and more spatially explicit data becomes available.” Lieven has already made a significant contribution to the development of climate change adaptation strategies, and it seems there is much more to come.
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Photos: Lieven Claessens
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Concerned with climate change #2 – Andy Jarvis Mapping: a lifelong passion
Andy Jarvis has always been fascinated by maps. Indeed, his earliest memory is of his mother opening an atlas to show him where his father was staying during one of his many business trips overseas. That initial spark ignited a passion that would eventually take Andy to King’s College London to study geography, and then half way round the globe, with nothing more than a small backpack, to take up a research fellowship at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia. “When a geography professor showed me slides of Colombia’s beautiful forests and ecosystems, I was so inspired that I just had
to see the country for myself,” Andy explains. “So when a job opening at the Center coincided with the end of my undergraduate studies, I jumped at the opportunity.” More than 11 years after this affable young man departed his native England, his passion for his work developing spatial modeling techniques to map biodiversity and climate change garnered him a prestigious international award, saw him rise rapidly to the position of senior scientist at CIAT, and catapulted him to the forefront of the climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). While juggling his responsibilities as the leader of CIAT’s Decision and Policy Analysis Program with a staff of about 75, Andy also co-leads the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change and Agriculture Food Security (CCAFS), which involves all 15 CGIAR Centers and is more of a System-wide leadership and management role. A constant juggling act Andy, who has the distinction of being the youngest person to spearhead a CGIAR Research Program, talks openly about getting started with CCAFS. “Although I was interested in working with CCAFS, I didn’t want to give up all my work with CIAT,” he says. “So Andy Challinor, a renowned climate scientist at the University of Leeds, and I made a successful joint application to co-lead the Program. I’m used to juggling more than one set of responsibilities at a time. When I first arrived at CIAT, it was to take up a joint position with Bioversity International. During my early years at the Center, I also obtained my Doctorate on the spatial distribution of plant diversity in forests, while working with CIAT focusing on agricultural biodiversity – two fields that are largely unrelated.” CCAFS – short and long term plans Andy’s enthusiasm is palpable when he talks about CCAFS and the five-year plan that aims to get all 15 CGIAR Centers talking to each other. “I hope to get the Centers and scientists working on climate change thinking in terms of the CGIAR as a system and not as individual Centers,” he says. “Once we have all the Centers working together for a number of years, we should be producing technologies and more knowledge about how agriculture can stand up to the challenges of climate change. At the same time, research on the ground should be showing that we have the agricultural knowhow to get the right solutions to smallholder farmers. Our responsibility as scientists right now is tremendous.”
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"Zen avocado": Andy showing his playful side
Two Degrees Up Two Degrees Up, a CCAFS video series on climate change narrated by Andy, highlights the possible impact of rising temperatures on smallholder agriculture in Colombia, Ghana and Kenya. Learn more with the Two Degrees Up introductory video
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, followed by Part One, which focuses on Colombia, Part Two (Ghana) and Part Three (Kenya). Sharing international recognition Andy’s passion for biodiversity conservation work was recognized when he received the prestigious Ebbe Nielsen Prize for 2009 for ‘combining biosystematics and biodiversity informatics research in an exciting and novel way’. “I have to credit my CIAT team for this award,” he says. “Their hard work made it possible.” He acknowledges the people who helped him earlier in his career. “One of my principal mentors has been Simon Cook, the Program leader before me,” he says. “When I first joined CIAT, he would drive me to work every morning, and I’d ask him non-stop questions and learn from his experiences. Another CIAT mentor, James Cock, now works for the Decision and Policy Analysis Program.” Collaboration and communication: the way forward Andy believes that the way forward for scientists is in communicating their research. “Climate change adaptation and mitigation is moving at an incredibly fast pace,” he says. “Scientists working in this area need to communicate their work better for greater impact. Collaboration is also vital. No one person has all the knowledge to do what they want to do.” And if there’s one person who knows about the power of collaboration and communication, it’s Andy Jarvis. Photos: Neil Palmer (CIAT)
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Carrying on the fight for gender equality #1– Jemimah Njuki Gender in rural Africa: women on the brink of change
Jemimah Njuki didn’t set out to make gender issues the focus of her life’s work. She came across her passion in life quite by accident. While working as a livestock scientist in her native Kenya, she witnessed firsthand the inequalities that leave many African women marginalized and voiceless. And she knew in an instant what she had to do. “After graduating with a degree in Dairy, Food Science and Technology, I began working for the Kenyan Ministry of Regional Development as a project officer coordinating activities on the ground,” Jemimah says. “Although women did most of the work, men controlled the assets and made all the major decisions;
women just didn’t seem to have the capacity to change anything.” The Ministry did begin a participatory program with women as the central focus, but Jemimah didn’t have a clear understanding of how she could really impact them. That’s when she decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Rural Development, specializing in gender and development. Speeding along the gender fast track When Jemimah talks about her work, there is a sense of urgency in her voice. It’s as if she can’t wait to do what needs to be done. While she was at university that same sense of urgency, coupled with her drive and passion, must have shown through in her work, because one year into her Master’s degree at Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture, she was fast-tracked into what became the second year of a PhD program, a first at the university. Several years later, in 2003, she joined the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and worked with smallholder women farmers in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya to improve food security, increase access to markets and achieve gender equality. She then moved to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009. “I joined ILRI because I wanted to come home and also because it’s one of the CGIAR Centers with a critical mass of social scientists working with development interventions that might have some impact addressing gender issues on the ground,” she says. “I lead the Poverty, Gender and Impact team. My work focuses mainly on empowering women. We’ve taken the ILRI theme of livestock as a pathway out of poverty and applied it to help women farmers. I work with some of ILRI’s projects to ensure that their strategies involve and impact women, that project staff have the capacity to address gender issues, and that their impact assessments have specific gender outcomes and targets.” ILRI the gender champion Jemimah talks enthusiastically about the support she and her team receive from both ILRI’s Director General and Deputy Director General (DDG) of Research. “In February 2011, I co-organized AgriGender 2011
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, a workshop that brought together researchers, development practitioners, donors and policymakers working in Africa and Asia to discuss ways of enabling women to participate in and benefit from agricultural markets, and the DDG of Research was at the forefront,” she says. “This kind of commitment is necessary if we are to mainstream gender into agriculture research and development. Participants exchanged knowledge, ideas and experiences: what worked and what
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didn’t. There was also a strong government presence at the workshop, which is needed if we are to scale up our efforts. The Ethiopian Minister for Agriculture attended and said that his government also needed to address gender issues. We still have a long way to go, but it was gratifying to bring all these people together who are behind the same cause. ILRI has projects that are reaching a thousand women, but we need to reach millions. And I think the people in that room actually have the capacity to do that.” Watch Jemimah’s TED talk for more insights into her work.
Jemimah Njuki speaking at the AgriGender 2011 workshop
Further down the track This dynamic woman also plans to increase the reach of her work. “I’m reaching out to partners and global networks carrying out similar work,” she says. “I often link with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) team carrying out gender research, and with some teams from donor organizations that are either funding or are interested in seeing change in the way research and development is done. I’m also linking with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, trying to assess the impact they are having on women with some of their projects. I hope to have a critical mass of organizations involved in these networks within the next five years. I’d also like to see gender research recognized as an area of research in its own right. It’s not just something that you add on to existing projects, like an afterthought. Even when we mainstream gender, it has to be an integral part of what we do.” Encouraging the next generation “Working with gender is very fulfilling, especially when you see women who previously wouldn’t speak up leading their community and doing things like conducting participatory research in their gardens and marketing their produce in high value markets,” says Jemimah. “I’m also mentoring young women scientists interested in working with African women farmers. We have to start building a generation of young people who have that commitment. Currently, there’s so much momentum for agriculture development and gender equality and we need to take this opportunity to change things.” Knowing Jemimah she probably wants to seize the opportunity right now.
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Photos: Jemimah Njuki
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Carrying on the fight for gender equality #2– Alessandra Galié Empowering women to get to where they want to go
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When Alessandra Galié began working with the Participatory Plant Breeding Program at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) as a research fellow in 2007, she wasn’t aware that she was embarking on a journey that would leave her forever changed. Through her work, she met many Syrian women who worked the land; wives and mothers who toiled without recognition or a voice. As she talked to them and listened to their stories, she began to question her own perceptions. As she witnessed them slowly becoming empowered, she became more empowered herself.
The invisible work force When this native Italian first arrived at the Center’s headquarters in Aleppo, Syria, she was surprised to find that women played a key role in agriculture. “Although statistics showed that the women didn’t work in the fields,” she explains, “a subsequent study showed that they were actually working alongside the men. They just weren’t participating in the Program. “Previously, Program scientists would cross the best varieties of crop seeds based on the needs and preferences of the male farmers, who would then grow them in their own fields, after which they would select the varieties they wanted to adopt. No women were involved in the process, so we adopted a pro-active approach that now sees both men and woman deciding together those varieties that best meet their needs as a family.” Assessing the social impact This young social scientist’s work with the Program fed into her PhD studies, and she is now compiling the results of a four-year action-oriented social impact assessment, which will form part of her thesis, Participatory Plant Breeding in Syria: Women, Governance and Rights. “Other than getting the woman involved in decision making about seed development, the Program also gave visibility to them at conferences,” say Alessandra, as she talks about her findings. “As as a result, they became more self-confident. One such conference, the International Farmers’ Conference that took place at the Center in 2008, brought together more than 50 farmers and researchers from nine countries, and was one of six pilot projects of the ICT-KM Program’s Knowledge Sharing in Research initiative. I helped organize the conference because the gender approach to knowledge sharing is important to my research in terms of appreciating gender-differentiated knowledge in agronomic management, informing women, sharing knowledge with them and understanding their needs. “The women and men farmers helped set the agenda for the event. However, the women felt embarrassed about making a formal speech in official Arabic. So we organized the conference around storytelling, a traditional knowledge sharing approach in rural Syria. The stories gave rise to even more stories, and all the participants felt involved.”
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Alessandra (third right) with four of the Syrian women farmers and their children
Assessing the personal impact As Alessandra conducted exercises with the women to assess changes in their empowerment, she became more aware of her own limitations. “The exercises revealed that despite my efforts at challenging my own understanding of empowerment, I still had some preconceived ideas when I started my fieldwork,” she says. “Although I was working to facilitate women’s access to empowering opportunities, I realized that many of them just wanted to be good mothers and wives. Initially, this was not what I had in mind, but I now know that empowerment is not about where you’re supposed to go, it’s about having the means to get to wherever you want to go. It’s not for me to determine their goals. Playing the traditional role is not a lesser goal, as long as it’s based on an informed decision. This helped me develop strategies to conduct my personal life and my career.” Supportive mentors In 2011, Alessandra received the Storm-van der Chijs award from Wageningen University in The Netherlands. The award recognizes promising female PhD students while stimulating their participation in science. She credits her supervisors as being key to the success of her research and her work. “Social gender and analysis expert Janice Jiggins, and crop physiology expert Paul Struik, both from the University, guide me, while two Program leaders at ICARDA, Salvatore Ceccarelli and Stefania Grando, support my work. It’s important to have someone to guide you through the theory, practice and politics of research. Respected supervisors also make my work more credible.” The importance of finding balance Alessandra recently completed her research fellowship at ICARDA and is now employed by the Center as a consultant specializing in social and gender analysis. “I would like to continue carrying out applied research as a social scientist with a specific focus on gender research,” she says. “At some point, I would also like to be able to split my work: carry out research, say, in the morning, and work the land in the afternoon. My family has a small organic farm near my home town of Ascoli in central Italy, and also a bed and breakfast establishment. Working the land is extremely gratifying.” Looks as if Syria’s women farmers have made quite an impact on Alessandra.
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Photos: Alessandra Galié
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Behind the scenes: youth in laboratories #1 - Teddy Amuge Strength through adversity
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When Teddy Amuge was 11 years old her father passed away, leaving behind a widow and 10 young children. Teddy’s mother did what she could to feed and educate her family, mainly by selling vegetables grown on their own land in northern Uganda, but there often wasn’t enough money to make ends meet. Whenever the household’s meagre income couldn’t be stretched to cover school fees, Teddy helped her mother work the land and compensated for her long absences from school by studying especially hard during the few months a year she was able to attend. Such adversity has helped mould Teddy into the determined
young woman she is today. Her hard work and self belief earned her several scholarships that eventually enabled her to graduate with a Masters degree in Crop Science from Kampala’s Makerere University. Getting to the root of cassava diseases “I’m a product of a farm,” says Teddy. “Even when my father was alive, we ate the food we grew on our own land. We grew and ate cassava. Cassava provides about 50% of the dietary needs of Uganda’s population, so when the country was badly hit by the Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) in the early 1990s, the disease became vividly known to me. I knew I had to do something to help find a solution. I joined NaCRRI in 2006 on a Masters fellowship and was part of the team using molecular tools to produce cassava lines resistant to CMD. Towards the end of my studies, we had identified some markers that could be used to create such lines. At the same time, another virus began to attack the cassava, and sadly all our lines succumbed. We had to start looking for plants to begin the breeding process all over again.” Then in 2010, this dedicated scientist became only one of 180 African woman scientists to have won an AWARD Fellowship. AWARD is a professional development program that strengthens the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Under the AWARD fellowship, Teddy now carries out her PhD research at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she works on finding a solution to both the CMD and the emerging Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) pandemics. “Unfortunately, many of the farmers can’t recognize this new aggressive disease,” explains Teddy. “It’s only at harvest time that they usually discover that the roots are completely rotten. We’re trying to educate them so they can identify the aerial symptoms of the CBSD, but it’s proving very difficult to detect. It’s a struggle for the farmers, because cassava is both a food and cash crop and some crops have been totally wiped out. My project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to combat CBSD using biotechnology applications.”
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Teddy Amuge at work in the lab
The mother of all mentors The AWARD Fellowship also provides Teddy with free training on proposal writing and development, scientific writing, and leadership skills, and has assigned a mentor, Dr. Lilian Waiboci-Muhia, a senior scientist and lecturer at the University of Nairobi, to guide her for one year. “Teachers and lecturers aside, my greatest mentor is my mother,” she says. “I’m so proud of her. She always puts her family ahead of everything else.” Influencing policy makers Teddy hopes one day to influence policy makers in her country, so that poor farmers can get the help they deserve in a timely manner. “It seems that certain government policies in my country are so held back by bureaucracy that it limits some processes,” she says. “This means that we are losing valuable time; time that can be used to make a difference in agriculture. In the future, if I could be involved in implementing such policies, I would focus on handling crises as quickly as possible and incorporating more rural people in policy networks.” From Uganda to New York and home again During the 55th Meeting of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) held at the UN headquarters in New York in February 2011, Teddy was given an opportunity to speak about cassava production and highlighted the lack of institutional and social support for women farmers in the industry. “It was a great experience,” she says. “When I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my mother all about it.” Her mother’s response? “She reminded me that they need good cassava, which is exactly what she tells me every day.”
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Photos: Teddy Amuge
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Behind the scenes: youth in laboratories #2 - Soroush Parsa Finding a home and a calling
In 1978, Soroush Parsa’s parents were forced to flee their native Iran shortly after their son’s birth. With the Shah of Iran struggling to stay in power as the rumblings of revolution grew ever louder, the young Baha’i parents envisaged a life of persecution for their religious beliefs should the ruler fall. So they abandoned their homeland and eventually found refuge in Peru. Today Soroush dreams of visiting Iran someday to find the relatives they left behind and to see some of the places his parents often describe to him. But he has another bigger dream; a dream that came about as a result of the poverty he witnessed
in his adopted country. “I want to be of service to others,” says this entomologist. “I want to get to a point in my work where I can feel I’ve done something meaningful, even if it’s only for a small number of people.” Soroush points out that his education has done more than just help him work towards achieving that goal. “Obtaining my PhD in Ecology in 2009 was a big deal for me because my parents weren’t able to finish their undergrad education,” he says. “But earning a Fulbright fellowship in 2006 was one of the most validating things I’ve ever experienced. I cried when I received it. It came 10 years after I’d moved from Peru to the United States to pursue a career in development and it enabled me return to Peru to spend a year with poor Andean farmers and learn about their agricultural challenges. At the time, I’d only been a naturalized American citizen for a few years, so I finally felt ‘adopted’ by the USA and began to believe in the so-called American dream.” The accidental entomologist Shortly after receiving his doctorate, Soroush took up his present position at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia. As the Center’s chief entomologist, he is in charge of developing integrated pest management programs for tropical crops and forages. “I almost didn’t become an entomologist,” says Soroush, when asked why he chose his particular career path. “Initially, I began studying for a degree in Economics and Finance and International Relations but changed my mind after watching a documentary about a missionary woman who traveled around the Amazon Basin visiting native communities. Along with a physician who accompanied her, she brought in some basic medicine and treatments for these people. This really moved me and I gave up my business studies and eventually graduated with a degree in Biology and Pre-medicine. Then I realized that if I studied medicine in the USA, it would take about 12 years before I would be able to help people in the field. So I decided to take a year off.” An ancient cradle of agriculture
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For the next year, Soroush focused on volunteer work in the Andes. “During this time, I became very interested in the development of Andean agricultural communities,” he says. “It’s fascinating to think that this is one of the few areas in the world where agriculture emerged independently. When I returned to the USA, the McKnight Foundation took me on board to help with an agricultural development project in the Central Andes. Then, in 2005, I got an internship with the International
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Potato Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru, to investigate the influence of certain potato pest outbreaks among peasant farmers. This work made me realize that I’d finally found my calling and I ended up doing my Masters thesis at the Center.”
Soroush at work in the field
Today, Soroush spends much of his time at CIAT leading a team of 19 people while thinking about systems and technologies that can potentially enable multiple crops to inherently fight pests themselves. I’m excited because, from the perspective of the farmers, one solution that tackles many problems will be cheap, easy to apply and multi-functional.” Crediting mentors “I’m here really because of my mentors,” Soroush claims, “especially Harry Kaya from UC Davis, my mentor when I was studying for my Masters. He supported me, encouraged me and allowed me to explore. Jay Rosenheim, my Ph.D advisor from the same university, taught me about the human dimension of research: the fundamental importance of collaboration, working in groups and establishing teams – things I’m trying to incorporate into my work today.” Likewise, Soroush currently has three thesis students on his team. “I think it’s important for students who want to pursue a career in entomology to consider the complexity of both the agriculture systems and the farmers involved,” he offers by way of advice. “We often come up with technologies that are effective in the lab but which can’t be adopted by the farmers.” Now that this dynamic young man has finally found his true calling, there’s no telling the impact that he will have on poor farmers in his region. Photos: Soroush Parsa