Ruth Oniang’o – Parliamentarian & Nutrition Professor

If there’s one Kenyan woman professor who has made an indelible mark on the development of nutrition training, research and development in Kenya and much of Africa, it is Honorable Prof Ruth Khasaya Oniang’o.

Prof Oniang’o also holds the distinction of being Kenya’s first professor of nutrition and she is probably the first woman nutrition professor in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

Academic career
Her career journey in the field of food science and nutrition began at Washington State University, Pullman USA where she received her BSc in Food & Nutrition (1972) and MSc in Human Nutrition (1974).

From 1977 to 1978, she worked as a Tutorial Fellow at the University of Nairobi, where she was also registered for her PhD in Food Science & Nutrition. She received her doctoral degree in 1983.

Between 1978 and 1988, Prof Oniang’o taught at Kenyatta University (KU) and rose steadily through the academic ranks of assistant lecturer, lecturer and senior lecturer. From 1988 to 1990, she served as associate professor of nutrition at KU.

She then moved to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and became the university’s first woman professor. Prof Oniang’o later attained the position of full professor of food science and nutrition in 1996 and also served as JKUAT’s founder Director of Graduate Studies.

Prof Oniang’o has served as external examiner for a number of universities in Africa and, in the process, assisted them to develop or revise their food science and nutrition curricula. These include: Kenya’s Moi, Egerton, Maseno and Kenyatta Universities; Tanzania's Sokoine University of Agriculture; University of Namibia; University of Zimbabwe and Malawi’s Bunda University College.

Locally, she has also served as a board member of the Egerton University Council, the Private Sector Governance Trust, the national policy think-tank Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards.

Internationally, Prof Oniang'o has attended and given plenary addresses to international congresses of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) and Crop Science meetings.

She has also authored numerous publications, many of which have been presented in local, regional and international forums.

Parliamentarian
In 2003, Prof Oniang’o took leave of absence from JKUAT following her nomination to Kenya’s ninth parliament by the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party. She served as a nominated MP from January 2003 to December 2007.

In her new-found capacity as an MP, she was able to address a wide spectrum of policy and governance issues that affect the common mwananchi.

For example, she brought a Bill before the House to address drought and famine, and supported the use of modern technologies, including biotechnology, by African scientists and policymakers.

She also supported a Bill to professionalize Kenyan nutritionists and dieticians. In addition, she used her experience as a trainer, researcher and development philanthropist to champion the cause of the youth, peasant farmers and women at the grassroots level.

Journal Editor

In addition to her university and parliamentary stints, Prof. Ruth Oniang’o wears an additional cap of Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND).

She started the journal in 2001 to provide young African university scholars with an avenue through which they could publish scholarly works related to food, agriculture, nutrition and development. AJFAND also serves as a capacity-building effort for budding academics from across the globe. Some of these young scholars also serve as interns in her NGO - Rural Outreach Program.

In this way, Prof Oniang'o is actively involved in mentoring and developing the next generation of African scholars by offering them an opportunity to participate in action research, present papers at scientific meetings, learn the art of writing research proposals, develop their skills in critical thinking, and gain experience in editing of scientific manuscripts.

Rural Outreach Program

Prof Oniang’o founded the Rural Outreach Program (ROP) in 1993 and is its first Executive Director. ROP is a non-profit community development organization whose establishment was triggered following the findings of an action research project by JKUAT. ROP’s main goal was to harness the intellectual resource of the university and connect it with the various capacities within communities to try and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor.

Through ROP, Ruth Oniang’o has literally transformed the lives of many rural poor families in the Butere-Mumias district of western Kenya and its environs. One of the things Prof Oniang'o is passionate about is the need for Kenyans of all walks of life to be able to obtain access to affordable health care.

Her innovative and top-notch leveraged interventions that have cut across the board have addressed a variety of issues including: nutrition and food security, wealth creation, women economic empowerment, environment, health and sanitation -- including HIV/AIDS, housing, education and poverty.

The Kenya Government awarded issued ROP with a certificate of recognition in acknowledgement of the organization's community-based development efforts. Farther afield, ROP has also been awarded special recognition by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Local and International Awards

For her outstanding service to her country in community development through action research and rural development activities, Prof Oniang’o has been awarded two national honours: the Silver Star in 1995 and the Distinguished Service Medal in 1998.

Internationally, Ruth Oniang'o won the Woman of the Year 2000 award granted by the American Biographical Institute.

Additionally, in 2006 she was granted the award of Fellow of three prestigious professional bodies: the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, the International Union of Food Science and Technology and the World Academy of Science and Art.

In 2007 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kenya Coalition for Action in Nutrition (KCAN) for recognition of her contributions to the advancement of nutrition and development initiatives in Kenya. In the same year, she was also successfully nominated Corresponding Member of the Medical and Natural Sciences Section of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences in Belgium.

Consultant

In Kenya, Prof Oniang'o has served on a number of national committees and commissions such as the Poverty Eradication Commission, the National Food Policy Committee, the World Food Summit and International Conference on Nutrition Committee, the National Standards Board, the Early Childhood Development Committee, and the Task force on Laws affecting Women and Children.

She has also worked as a professional consultant for organizations such as FAO, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a number of international and local NGOs and universities.

She currently sits on the Boards of the International Rice Research Institute, International Fertilizer Development Centre, and the HarvestPlus Program Advisory Committee.

She is always at the forefront of debate when it comes to matters of health care, agricultural research, nutrition and food security. She has participated in consultations at the international level and helped to generate decisions that have shaped global food security and nutrition.

Her grasp of African food and nutrition issues has often enabled her to be Africa’s voice at many international forums such as the World Nutrition Conference in 1992 and the World Food Summit in 1996.

In her political position, Ruth Oniang’o is a trainer with the International Republican Institute and a consultant with the Club of Madrid, a Club of about 74 democratically elected past heads of State and Government.

Prof Oniang'o is keen to see a Green Revolution for Africa that can enable the continent move from a position of 'beggar of food' to 'exporter of food'. She is a strong believer in restoring Africa’s dignity by ensuring that this transformation takes place. To this end, she soldiers on tirelessly in her academic work and through her NGO, often using minimal financial resources but always driven by her vision of a better Africa.

Prof Ruth Oniang'o is married with five children and three grandchildren. She presently works as a consultant, based in Kenya. She vied unsuccessfully for an elective parliamentary post in last year's General Elections and though her NGO suffered from the effects of the post-election violence, she was thankfully not physically harmed.

Prof Oniang'o remains committed to sharing her experiences with those who wish to learn from them. She can be contacted on oniango@iconnect.co.ke