Meet the Ethiopian scientist tackling food security through sustainable practices
Amidst this crisis, individuals like Desta Gebeyehu, a 2021 Mawazo Fellow from Ethiopia, are taking proactive steps to address food security in their home countries. Desta is focusing on implementing sustainable practices within the agricultural sector of Ethiopia to combat malnutrition and enhance food security. U.S.A.’s International Trade Organization states that despite agriculture being a […]
Meet the Kenyan Medical Entomologist researching malaria prevention
On World Malaria Day, April 25th 2024, to celebrate the gains that African researchers have made in malaria treatment and prevention, we interviewed our very own 2021 Mawazo Fellow, Kenyan Medical Entomologist Dr. Trizah Milugo MI: What are the rates of malaria in Kenya? According to the latest reports by the World Health Organisation (WHO), […]
Meet the Rwandan Dentist intent on saving lives through oral hygiene
Her PhD research focused on the role of periodontitis, a common gum disease, on preterm birth. The research increases awareness on the connection between oral and maternal health. On a macro level, Dr. Peace’s research fits into the important conversation about how dental hygiene impacts overall health. She warns that if African governments are not […]
Meet the Educational Psychologist building resilience amongst Kenyan youth
Her doctoral research investigated the parental, scholastic, and personal factors that promote the academic resilience of students in marginalised areas in Turkana County, Kenya. It was born out of a desire to understand why some students succeed despite challenging and debilitating conditions that put them at risk for educational failure, and therefore lowering their life […]
Meet the STEM Motivator: Championing Girls for Greatness!
I went to a remote high school in Makueni County, which had a single computer lab with six computers. Many girls in the school stayed away from computer studies due to a widely held belief that the subject was only for bright students. The school had one male teacher who taught us programming using pascal […]
One GBV case is one too many: Women and Girls Should feel Safe and Protected
About 480 km from Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, is the Dadaab Refugee Complex. A young researcher, Mawazo Alumna Judy Ngina, is giving hope to victims and survivors of GBV. Dadaab is split into 3 camps, Dagahaley, Hagadera, and Ifo, and has a population of over 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, […]
After Six Years in the Nest, Mawazo Takes Flight
Rose spoke about her passion for using academic research to inform government policy in her job at the DOE, but also wondered if she could be doing more to support other African women pursuing careers in the sciences. For my part, I had just completed a comprehensive exam in African politics which demonstrated how rarely […]
How do we make agriculture attractive for young people?
For these reasons, “the agricultural value-chain seems like a good place to be for a young entrepreneur,” but this is often not the reality. Many youths see agriculture as unglamorous. Evaline Sang’, a 2021 Mawazo Learning Exchange Fellow and agribusiness expert and lecturer at Kenyatta University has seen this first-hand. She regularly interacts with young […]
Curiosity Driven Science – Africa’s Space Scientists Look to the Stars
More than 20 years later, in 1999, South Africa launched Africa’s first satellite, SunSat. Constructed by students at Stellenbosch University, over ten years, the construction and operation of the satellite’s orbit led to around 100 students earning their post-graduate degrees. The knock-on effect of South Africa’s ownership of the launch and satellite itself was felt […]
A Look at Kenya’s Law Eliminating Harmful Practices in Marketing of Baby Bottles and Formula
This act’s primary goal, despite initial fears stoked by inaccurate media reporting in Kenya, is to protect parents and caregivers against aggressive advertising on breast-feeding substitutes and misinformation given to parents. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. In fact, 90 percent of women can have enough breast […]