Sonia Naidoo grew up in Maputo, Mozambique, raised by a wise aunt and uncle, who were committed to seeing that she got a university education. She was not fond of history or geography in secondary school, so she ended up taking science subjects. “I didn’t want to be a medical doctor or a veterinarian, so this left me with agronomy as a choice” she recalls with a laugh. “I was familiar with agronomy since my grandma had a plot and I used to work with her there. I also had a vegetable garden as a child, and I actually liked dealing with plants.” But it was only as an adult that she realized that agronomy was her true calling. Completing a BSc in Agronomy at Eduardo Mondlane University, she was the first member of her family to get a university degree.