Ruth K. Oniang'o

Ruth K. Oniang’o "received her BS (with distinction) and MS degrees from Washington State University in the United States and her Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and has since spent 20 years in academia. Her areas of research and consultation are household food and nutritional security, women’s nutrition, child health, and community-level agro-processing, in which she has published widely. Prof. Oniang’o has done much consultation work, such as with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in nutrition. She has published 50 articles in international and local journals and magazines and has written chapters in several books.

"Prof. Oniang’o has been awarded the Silver Star Medal by the President of the Republic of Kenya for outstanding service to the country in community development through action research in 1995 and the Distinguished Service Medal for national service in 1998. She has been on the board of the Kenya Bureau of Standards, Egerton University Council, and Poverty Eradication Commission. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Development and founder and executive director of the Rural Outreach Program.

"She is on the board of the Kenya Gatsby Charitable Trust, Food Security and Sustainable Development Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Biotechnology Advisory Council of Monsanto-USA, and the Private Sector Corporate Governance Trust. She is also on the advisory committee of the Biofortification Project of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a member of the working group forming the Society of African Journal Editors, a panel member of the World Cancer Research Fund International, and founder-president of the Kenya Union of Food Science and Technology.

"Prof. Oniang’o is currently the executive director of the Rural Outreach Program and has been elected a member of Parliament of the Government of Kenya."


 * Trustee, International Rice Research Institute