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GLOBE Alumnus Abdelaziz Lawani Joins Borlaug LEAP Fellowship

Jul 28, 2015

GLOBE Alumnus Abdelaziz Lawani joined the Borlaug LEAP Fellowship as a 2015 Spring Fellow. Lawani's goal is to investigate how large-scale government food storage will affect the people it is intended to help, focusing on rice in particular, given its enormous importance to much of the developing world. He hopes that his findings will help strengthen food security in the West African region and beyond, in line with Feed the Future's goals for the region.

Currently, Lawani is pursuing his PhD in Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky, which he expects to receive in 2017. He credits his early interest in agricultural topics to his high school experience with The GLOBE Program. Even as a teenager, Lawani says that people were drawn to his ability to work well with others while searching for creative solutions to problems. He hopes to use both what he has learned in the past, and what he will learn as a Borlaug LEAP Fellow, to mentor young people looking to work in the agricultural sector.

The Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (Borlaug LEAP) awards fellowships to outstanding graduate students who show strong promise as leaders in the field of agriculture and related disciplines. The program honors Dr. Norman Borlaug whose distinguished career epitomized the qualities of leadership, scholarship, scientific achievement, international cooperation, mentoring, and passion.