Julie Mmbone Ojango grew up on farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley in a family of four girls and one boy. Her father, an education specialist and farmer, believed in all of his children, but especially encouraged his daughters. “My dad said girls can do anything,” she smiles. “He told us the wealth he would leave us would be in the education that we acquired.” All of her siblings are university graduates and are working in various professions.
Growing up on a farm instilled in her a love for animals. “My dad would bring in beautiful Holsteins but they would die,” she recalls sadly. “I resolved that one day I would get an answer as to why animals were dying—that’s what propelled me to study animal science.
Field of Research
Ojango is involved in developing and testing livestock performance recording and feedback systems, developing breeding strategies in both extensive and smallholder systems, and supporting institutional arrangements to deliver the desired outputs for the respective livestock sectors.