Promotions, Moves and Recognition

Hedwig Nenkari, 2008 AWARD Fellow, Kenya

Hedwig Nenkari is one of seven Kenyans to be chosen to attend the U.S. Department of State Food Security Fellowship Program for 2011. Participants will spend time with U.S. counterparts in order to learn how professionals in an established democracy handle agricultural issues. Nenkari and her colleagues will spend four weeks at Oklahoma State University and one week in Washington DC on the way back to Kenya.

She was recently featured on Kenya's Citizen TV. Watch the TV clip here.

Elizabeth Odoyo, 2010 AWARD Fellow, Kenya

Elizabeth Odoyo credits AWARD’s Dr. Josephine Songa with encouraging her to send an abstract to a science congress in Cape Town South Africa, which was accepted. The title of her paper was “Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Development using an Ecologically Based Approach”. “My message was to create awareness by making the people connect with the environment, informing and engaging them on climate change issues linked to traditional knowledge,” Odoyo says. “I thank AWARD for sponsoring me to attend this world congress, which attracted 416 delegates from over 40 countries. I hope to present a paper in the upcoming world summit, which will take place in Belgium in 2014.”

Vettes Kalema, 2010 AWARD Fellow, Uganda

Vettes Kalema has accepted a position as a technical advisor with the Sustainable Land Management Program. She is working on two projects that address the problems of sustainability, which are funded by the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Fund, and the Government of Uganda. “The projects are addressing the problems of sustainability not only in woodlands but in the whole ecosystems, and are contributing toward the food security and improved livelihoods of rural people,” said Kalema. “I am happy to announce that I will be going to Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri early next year for my research attachment. Also, I am happy to report that I have now reached the seventh step on my life purpose roadmap”.

Mary Njenga, 2009 AWARD Fellow, Kenya

Mary Njenga was recently interviewed in The People newspaper about her work in creating fuel briquettes made from waste materials as an alternative to charcoal. (See PDF)

Njenga and her AWARD Mentor, Dr. Yvonne Pinto, also wrote an article about their experiences in AWARD and how AWARD fits in the bigger picture of empowering women. The article will be published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (IJAS), Vol 9 Issue 4 in November 2011. (See PDF)

“AWARD has been instrumental in the visibility and networks I enjoy today. Just Google my name,” says Njenga. “Believe me; I am now learning how to manage success while remaining focused on my studies. How I wish the benefits of AWARD would reach many more like me.”

Njenga won an AWARD-sponsored research attachment to the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, where she will be researching the sustainable use and production of bio-energy, as well as organic waste management.

Bolanle Otegbayo, 2009 AWARD Fellow, Nigeria

Bolanle Otegbayo is the first Nigerian scientist to join the labs of CIRAD in Montpellier, France. She is studying the food quality and industrial potential of yams during a four-month research attachment sponsored by Agropolis Fondation. Otegbayo is a lecturer Bowen University's Department of Food Science and Technology. She was interviewed recently FranceTélévisions Info.

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