Rose Mwonya: Professor of home economics

Professor Rose Mwonya is on course to becoming the fifth vice chancellor of Egerton University and the institution's first ever female vice chancellor when she officially takes over the reins from Prof James Tuitoek next week.

Today's Sunday Nation (10 January 2016) contains a feature on Prof Mwonya's academic journey and her rise to the top.

Below is an excerpt of the article by Elvis Ondieki.

Prof Mwonya spent her formative years at Ndenga Primary School in Siaya County where she studied up to Standard Four before her father took her to Asumbi Girls Boarding School in Homa Bay County. From there she joined Nyabururu Girls in Kisii and later enrolled at the Embu Institute of Agriculture.

Afterwards, she worked under the Agriculture ministry before she applied to the government to secure her an admission to pursue a diploma at Egerton University, then under the University of Nairobi.

She finished her three-year-course in Agriculture and Home Economics in 1975 then was later posted to Kakamega district as a District Home Economics Officer. She worked in that position shortly before going to Bukura Institute of Agriculture in the then Western province as a lecturer to fulfil her dreams.

Later, she received a scholarship from the United States Agency for International Development to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture at the Iowa State University which she completed in one and a half years. 

She also pursued an MSc and PhD in Home Economics Education at the same institution until 1984. Prof Mwonya majored in home economics, a discipline that incorporates child development and adult education among other aspects.

Read the full article, Rose Mwonya: My rise from village girl to vice-chancellor

Congratulations to Prof Rose Mwonya on her appointment as Vice Chancellor! 

Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe new board member of consortium of international agriculture research centres

Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe

The CGIAR Consortium has appointed Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe to its Board of Trustees.

The Consortium works to "reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership and leadership."

It was set up in April 2010, as part of a major reform of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), this year celebrating its 40th year.

Prof Mwang'ombe is currently the Principal of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences of the University of Nairobi and has been previously profiled on this blog. Below is a more recent bio from the Consortium website:

Prof. Agnes W. Mwang’ombe joined the Consortium board in February 2011. She is a full professor of Plant Pathology and currently a Principal, at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 2009, Prof. Mwang'ombe was awarded by the Africa Crop Science Society the Certificate for Outstanding Contribution to Crop Production in Africa as the Best Woman Researcher. The foci of her research work are: plant pathology, sustainable agriculture as influenced by climate change and economic empowerment/mentorship of women farmers. She is a professional mentor to women scientists and has been actively involved in the activities under the AWARD Initiative lead by the Gender and Diversity Programme (CGIAR). Prof. Mwang’ombe served on a number of national and international committees and boards in various capacities, such as President of African Crop Science Society, Advisory Board Member and Scientific Advisory Committee Member at the CTA (Ede, Netherlands), Technical Advisory Committee Member for BASIC (ICRAF), Technical Advisory Committee Member at the RUFORUM (Kampala, Uganda), Advisory Panel Committee Member at Farm Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), Chairperson at the Kenyan Institute for Public Policy, Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), etc. 

Congratulations, Prof Mwang'ombe!

Agnes Mwang'ombe - Principal of UoN's Agriculture College

Of the University of Nairobi's six colleges, only two are presently headed by Kenyan women professors. One of these women is Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe, the Principal of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences at Upper Kabete Campus.

The other is Prof Lucy Irungu, the principal of Chiromo Campus, who is featured in my next post.

Prof Mwang'ombe was appointed the principal of Upper Kabete Campus in September 2005, prior to which she was the university's Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture for two years.

Prof Mwang'ombe's area of specialization is plant pathology and she obtained her PhD in plant pathology from the University of London in 1987. A year later, she joined the teaching staff at the University of Nairobi as a lecturer in the Department of Crop Science. She rose through the academic ranks to become a senior lecturer in 1991 and associate professor in 1997.

In 1997, she was appointed a member of the board of the African Crop Science Society and served as the president of the society between 2003 and 2005.

Aside from the area of crop science, Prof Mwang'ombe has been actively engaged in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policy in Kenya. In recognition of her work in this regard, she was appointed the chair of the board of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis in 2007, a position she currently holds.

She is also involved in charity education programs for girls and mentorship programs for young women scientists in East Africa. In 1996, she was elected the first chair of KEPAWAE - the Kenya Professional Association of Women in Agriculture and Environment. Through this organization, professional women in the fields of agriculture and environmental sciences offer technical expertise and material support to Kenyan rural women farmers through transfer of appropriate farming technologies and development of project proposals.

In 2000, Prof Mwang'ombe founded an NGO - Arid and Semi-arid Lands Foundation - to identify and promote projects aimed at sustainable food production and natural resource management in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands that comprise over 70 per cent of the country's area. She presently serves as the NGO's director.