Research fellow Norah Ndege attended the second International Conference on Global Food Security, as part of her career development fellowship with AWARD. At the conference organized by Elsevier and held at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York City from October 11–14, 2015, Nora presented her paper titled, “Reducing post-harvest losses of perishable fruit through processing: How efficient is training for behaviour change of smallholder farmers in Eastern Kenya?”

“My presentation was found to be quite informative and elicited lots of discussion as many participants wanted to learn about behaviour change and the various models used to bring about such change within farming systems”, points out Nora, who also says she was delighted by the wealth of knowledge she was exposed to at the conference. “From the various café’s and sessions held, I interacted widely with other experienced scientists and was even able to develop other research questions and topics. Other presentations relating to drivers of food waste and loss in food systems, including how social innovation can be used to develop solutions for food wastage were also reflected upon and discussed.”

Most importantly, as Nora reveals, she got to learn how she furthers her research and look into other probable methodologies which can be applied to implement behaviour change in the food loss chain. “This conference also gave me a great opportunity to network with other scientists across the globe and establish professional linkages for knowledge sharing as well. Cornell University is also one of the best globally recognized universities; I explored possible opportunities for research and further studies,” confirms Nora.

“I would like to thank AWARD for this wonderful opportunity as I was able to increase my research networks and visibility across the globe. I also met other AWARD Fellows at this conference, and they continuously encouraged me to shine as an AWARD Fellow” she says enthusiastically.