DASNR
International
Student of the Week

 

Home Country:
Kenya

“Kenya is in East Africa and is well endowed with rich cultures and tourist attraction sites. There are several of these, just to mention a few, we have Tsavo national park, Nakuru national park, Amboseli game reserve, Masai Mara national park, and Arabuko Sokoke among others. The climax of touring Kenya is always at the coast of Mombasa. The town is rich with beautiful beach hotels, tourist sites, good climate and a rich history. The picture above shows an overwiew of the Rift Valley.

There are 42 tribes in Kenya. The common language that unites all these tribes is Kiswahili. These communities do have a different tradition. Ranging from they way they dress, carry out traditional ceremonies, food preferences, language, to farming systems.” Source: Emily Rutto

“Agriculture remains the most important economic activity in Kenya, although less than 8% of the land is used for crop and feed production. Less than 20% of the land is suitable for cultivation, of which only 12% is classified as high potential (adequate rainfall) agricultural land and about 8% is medium potential land. The rest of the land is arid or semiarid. About 80% of the work force engages in agriculture or food processing.

Kenya is Africa's leading tea producer, black tea is Kenya's leading agricultural foreign exchange earner. Coffee is Kenya's third leading foreign exchange earner. Horticulture has become prominent in recent years, and is now the third leading agricultural export. Fresh produce accounted for about 30% of horticultural exports, and included green beans, onions, cabbages, snow peas, avocados, mangoes, and passion fruit. Flowers exported include roses, carnations, statice, astromeria, and lilies.

Kenya is the world's largest producer and exporter of pyrethrum, a flower that contains a substance used in pesticides. The pyrethrum extract, known as pyrethrin, is derived from the flower's petals. A drop in production during the mid-1990s was due to increasing production costs, disease damage, and slow payment by the parastatal Pyrethrum Board of Kenya. The growing demand for "organic" and "natural" pesticides has increased international demand for pyrethrin, despite the existence of synthetic chemical substitutes. Kenya also produces sisal, tobacco, and bixa annatto (a natural food coloring agent) for export.” Source: Encyclopedia of Nations, Kenya Agriculture

 

Emily Rutto
August 24, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences...

This week’s international student of the week is Emily Jeptum Rutto. She is a first year PhD student in the department of soil science. Emily is from Eldoret, a cosmopolitan town suited in western Kenya, in the Rift Valley Province. Emily speaks English, Kiswahili, and Kelenjin.

Emily is member of TSBF-AfNet Program, the Africa Crop Science Society, the Soil Science Society East Africa, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, and the Crop Science Society of America.

Emily came to the USA to pursue her PhD. She believes that “The United States has what it takes to equip her with new knowledge.” She chose OSU through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Moi University in Kenya, which is located in Eldoret. She was privileged to be chosen by Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Dr. Reuben Muasya, to come and study the new OSU Green Seeker Technology, which is not offered in Kenya. Dr. Bill Raun offered to help Moi University incorporate Green Seeker technology into their teaching, research and extension activities when they visited OSU, and now Emily is pursuing her graduate studies here. OSU also has other agriculture technologies that are needed in Kenya; Emily believes that she will learn from those those technologies and take them back to Kenya.

Emily, Farmer, and Emily's Collegues

Emily comes from a family of 10 children, 5 daughters and five sons. She is the fifth born. Emily’s parents are alive and they live in Eldoret where they farm. Emily is the only child in her family who has pursued studies this far, her family is very proud of her. Emily’s father is a no nonsense person, he taught her to be hardworking, focused, and determined. She has used those tools to survive and walk through difficult times; her father’s lessons help her to be certain that she will make it through. Discipline is a key to everything in Emily’s family.

Antelope in the game reserve Kitale, near Eldoret.

In her free time Emily likes traveling, reading magazines, watching movies, listening to music, and watching foot ball.

Emily’s future plans are to be a researcher or a lecturer in Kenya.

Advisor: Dr. Bill Raun

Emily’s advice for Students: “First things first, do whatever you were brought here to do and do it well, the rest will follow….. Life is so precious so guard it, and time is too short so use it wisely.”

White Rino at the Reserve

Interview by Sandra Rodríguez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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