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.
2007 Borlaug LEAP Fellow Dr. Emmanuel Tumusiime reflects on agricultural development interventions and the search for transformative solutions to extreme poverty. In this article, he challenges the development community to look at how current policies are impacting small-scale farmers and reminds us that food security research must reach the poor farmers it is intended to help.
This October, a record 16 Borlaug LEAP Fellows attended the World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa. The event provides an opportunity for Borlaug LEAP Fellows to engage with other LEAP Fellows, USDA Borlaug Fellows and an array of development professionals.
“Attending the event for me was a career defining moment,” remarked Bernice Waweru, 2014 Borlaug LEAP Fellow. “It is the epitome of inspiration, Norman Borlaug’s legacy lives on ever more brightly at the World Food Prize events.”
Kwevitoukoui (Brad) Hounkpati is the first Borlaug LEAP Fellow from Togo. A Fulbright PhD Student in the University of Georgia Entomology Department, Hounkpati is currently conducting a systematic study of the West African Coccinellidae (WAC), or West African Ladybeetles. Numerous species of Coccinellidae are well known as biological control agents in many parts of the world.
