Kenyan amongst 100 girls honoured by FAO for driving change throughout agri-food programs
Zipporah Nyaguthii Gitonga. PHOTO/FAO
By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Kenya’s Zipporah Nyaguthii Gitonga was amongst 100 Girls Heroes in Agrifood Programs and Rural Growth, honoured by the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations (FAO) as we speak.
Zipporah is a Kenyan agribusiness chief and advocate for inclusive agricultural transformation whose work has helped strengthen entry to finance, know-how, inputs, and markets for smallholder farmers.
By way of her management inside the Mazao Group of Corporations, she has supported the event of built-in agricultural providers, together with high quality seedling manufacturing, farmer financing, digital enter marketplaces, and knowledge-sharing platforms that enhance farm productiveness and resilience.
Combining sensible agribusiness expertise with analysis and coverage engagement, she has championed modern financing options, monetary literacy, and sustainable funding in agriculture.
Her efforts to attach farmers with the assets and alternatives wanted to thrive have made her a number one voice for rural improvement, girls’s management, and sustainable agri-food programs in Kenya.
FAO) recognizing girls from all over the world whose work is making a distinction throughout agri-food programs and rural communities. The initiative was launched by FAO to mark the Worldwide 12 months of the Girl Farmer 2026.
The occasion additionally coincides with the Worldwide Day of Rural Girls celebrated yearly on 15 October, to acknowledge the crucial function and contribution of rural girls in agriculture and rural improvement, meals safety and the eradication of rural poverty.
Opening the presentation ceremony at FAO headquarters in Rome, Director-Basic QU Dongyu paid tribute to the ladies being acknowledged and recalled the affect of his personal grandmother, who raised him in a small village in China and taught him the best way to farm and cook dinner, in addition to the worth of laborious work, resilience and respect for the land.
Reflecting on the data handed down via generations, QU mentioned: “Every part I realized from her, she realized from the generations of ladies who got here earlier than her. And that’s how data adjustments the world.”
He then turned to the ladies honoured on the ceremony, highlighting their contributions as farmers, entrepreneurs, researchers, educators and neighborhood leaders working to guard biodiversity, create alternatives, advance innovation, share data and strengthen resilience to starvation, poverty and local weather change.
“Throughout villages and cities, mountains and coastlines, forests and fields, you might be doing extraordinary issues,” QU mentioned.
The ladies chosen come from completely different areas, professions and backgrounds, reflecting the various roles girls play all through agri-food programs. PHOTO/FAO
FAO had introduced 99 of the Girls Heroes within the days main as much as the ceremony. Through the occasion in Rome, the Group revealed Yin Yuzhen of China because the one centesimal honouree, finishing the group of ladies acknowledged for his or her contributions to agrifood programs and rural improvement.
Yin Yuzhen was acknowledged for her decades-long work to revive degraded land in China’s Mu Us Sandy Land. What started with planting timber in an space threatened by desertification has contributed to the restoration of almost 5,000 hectares round her residence and the planting of greater than eight million timber throughout the realm, serving to help agriculture, livelihoods and native communities.
The choice course of was designed to make sure broad participation by FAO Members, geographical stability and transparency.
FAO obtained 609 nominations from 131 Members following a name for submissions shared throughout the Group’s membership. The variety of nominations allowed from every nation was decided in response to inhabitants dimension.
All nominations have been first screened in opposition to the submission necessities and nation quotas. Eligible candidates have been then assessed and ranked by FAO senior administration.
Shortlisted candidates went via two additional rounds of deliberations by senior management to evaluate the general high quality, stability and representativeness of the group. The ultimate listing of 100 girls was then permitted by FAO’s Senior Management Committee.
The ladies chosen come from completely different areas, professions and backgrounds, reflecting the various roles girls play all through agri-food programs — from producing meals and defending pure assets to advancing science, operating companies, preserving data and supporting rural communities.
The ceremony was held as a part of the World Meals Discussion board 2026 at FAO headquarters in Rome, which culminates in World Meals Day tomorrow (16 October).
