OUR FELLOWS
Gloria Makhambera says agriculture is in her blood. The second born in a family of three girls, she describes her father as a natural farmer, and she followed in his footsteps. “We never had to buy maize—a staple food in Malawi—because my dad grew it,” she recalls. “I saw his investment, and that sparked my interest in the land.”
My objective is to see the yields and incomes of Malawian smallholder farmers increase as their soil fertility improves through the adoption of conservation agriculture with trees.
Field of Research
I often get the sense that people think I should be a cashier or a secretary because I’m a woman—that I have no business doing research,” says Makhambera. But she is reminded that her role model—her father— taught her that she can do anything she puts her mind to.