Story:INGENAES FELLOWS ATTEND 3RD AFRICA-WIDE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION CONFERENCE, 2017 IN DURBAN (SOUTH AFRICA)

The 3rd Annual AFAAS Africa-Wide Agricultural Extension Week 2017 was held October 30th thru November 3rd in Durban, South Africa. Over 700 Agricultural Extension professionals from all over the continent converged on Durban to take part in this year’s theme, ‘Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture: Integrating Youth, Women and the Digital Revolution’, with two of Uganda’s own INGENAES Fellows; Rosemirta Birungi and Docus Alowo, in attendance and the middle of it all. Throughout the week the Fellows were afforded the opportunity to sit in on numerous presentations and ask questions of the presenters. They also took part in a site visit to see firsthand how an area Piggery and Dairy Farm are incorporating Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and technologies within their operations.

Opportunities to take part and benefit from this type of professional development is exactly what the INGENAES Fellows Program was designed to do give young professionals the necessary exposure they might not otherwise receive to jump start their careers and become leaders in their field. One monumental way this is achieved is by affording each of them the opportunity to present their own research at the conference and receive questions and feedback from expert practitioners in the field. On the last day of the conference both Fellows got to do just that, and presented their research in the area of gender and nutrition during a Poster Presentation side event which was well received.