The Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (Borlaug LEAP) awards fellowships to outstanding graduate students who show strong promise as leaders in the field of agriculture and related disciplines. The program honors Dr. Norman Borlaug whose distinguished career epitomized the qualities of leadership, scholarship, scientific achievement, international cooperation, mentoring, and passion.
Sadly, Borlaug LEAP will be closing its doors at UC Davis this Fall. Since the program began, 170 Borlaug LEAP Fellows have completed their fellowships. All 15 CGIARs and over 45 US universities have participated in the program. The Fellows represent 29 different countries (97% from sub-Saharan Africa) and the majority (84%) have pursued PhD degrees. Their thesis topics ranged from soil science to human nutrition to agricultural economics.
Author Bonphace Mangeni is a Kenyan PhD student studying Crop Protection (Plant Virology at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kakamega, Kenya. He is a 2013 Borlaug LEAP Fellow.
This was my first time to attend the World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. I was very excited to receive the news to participate in the World Food Prize 2017 events as a delegate selected by Borlaug LEAP. It was an opportunity to meet with the powers driving global agriculture and food production.
The upcoming 2016 World Food Prize will honor contributions in the field of biofortification. With almost one person in four being undernourished in Africa, 2015 Borlaug Fellow Dr. Kassahun Kelifa Suleman explores what recent experiences tell us about the role that biofortified foods can play in ensuring nutritious and safe food for the continent.
