Caroline Mwongera grew up in Meru, Kenya, as the firstborn in a family of three children. She and her brothers worked on the family’s small-scale farm, an enterprise she felt was “a waste of time”. She especially felt that livestock keeping was not worth it because it was labor intensive with poor returns. While studying agriculture in high school she recognized the gap, and felt that some of the principles she learned should be used in agriculture. “I wanted to be the person to bridge the research gap, by bringing good knowledge and skills to farmers,” she says.