Interview with Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, Executive Director of AWARD, Kenya

Is it possible to encourage peace in Africa?

Absolutely!

However, peace is not an accidental or a random occurrence.

Peace requires that we actively and consciously participate in creating and building peace, daily, hourly, in our interactions with others.

Peace also requires that we remain disciplined in not seeking methods other than peacefulness to resolve conflicts.

One of the reasons people in Africa so admire Nelson Mandela’s example, is that he refused to be tempted to retaliate against his enemies, and vigilantly practiced the discipline of non-violence. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission that Desmond Tutu initiated is another example of how peace requires a certain vigilance and discipline, and how there need to be mechanisms securely in place to nurture and to build peace.

Peace requires that we actively and consciously participate in creating and building peace, daily, hourly, in our interactions with others.

What are you doing to encourage peace in Africa?

In my current role as the Director at African Women in Agriculture Research and Development (AWARD), I strive to build a methodology whose ultimate result is to build peace and provide peaceful solutions for Africa. AWARD is a career-development program that equips top women agricultural scientists across sub-Saharan Africa to accelerate agricultural gains by strengthening their research and leadership skills.

Specifically, this means driving innovative and efficient research and development in the agricultural sciences that can meet the challenges of shortage and scarcity of food resources on in sub-Saharan African.

Many of the armed conflicts in Africa are based upon food shortages and scarcity.

At laboratories and greenhouses across the continent, African scientists are developing tools to boost productivity of Africa’s farms – part of a broad strategy to strengthen the entire agricultural sector, increase income, support rural communities, and drive economic growth.

— United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in 2009

Africa has enormous challenges with regard to the sustainable growth of food and these challenges can result in symptoms ranging from famine to conflict and war. So many of the armed conflicts in Africa are based upon food shortages and food scarcity.

My work takes on these challenges and builds practical, peaceful solutions.

Unemployed youth from the farming communities are often recruited by some of the most brutal and subversive militias into conflicts of senseless violence and bloodshed.

Consider youth employment in the rural areas as one example:

So much crime in urban areas in cities like Nairobi, results from the exodus of young people from the eroding farming communities, seeking better opportunities in the big cities. Inevitably, the big and overcrowded African cities marginalize these youth, who have emigrated from the rural areas, and these youth often turn to urban crime to feed themselves. Moreover, the disenfranchised and unemployed youth from the farming communities are often recruited by some of the most brutal and subversive militias into conflicts of senseless violence and bloodshed.

A peaceful solution to this challenge, is to build and rebuild sustainable and thriving agricultural communities in Africa, that bring healthy and financially viable employment opportunities to the young men and women in these rural communities. In addition, a thriving agricultural community means that young children have better nutrition as they grow up, which means they are able to make better life decisions:

Decisions that are based upon nurturing and building strong communities and leading a productive, ethical and peaceful life.

Working at the intersection of academia and social entrepreneurship, Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, who holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, is passionate about the synergy between rigorous academic analysis and committed social activism.

— The White House website of President Barack Obama commending Champion of Change, Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg

In America, when there is a drought, the drought does not result in a famine. In Africa, a drought often results in a famine.

Such challenges in Africa take an enormous amount of enlightened vision, as well as practical, hands-on research and development, to shift the paradigm. Working hard to shift these paradigms in a positive way, is what I am doing, specifically, to encourage peace in Africa.

A thriving agricultural community means that young children have better nutrition as they grow up, and make life decisions based upon a productive and a peaceful life.

2014 AWARD Fellowship laureates attending the Mentoring Orientation Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya: (left to right): Beatrice Sadina (Uganda), Esperança Tiago Michaque (Mozambique), Prisila Andrea Mkenda (Tanzania), and Jummai Othniel Yila (Nigeria) are among the 70 winners of an AWARD Fellowship this year. These women were selected from 790 applicants of top women agricultural scientists from 11 African countries.

What can others do to encourage peace in Africa?

Karim, I fully support and endorse what your previous interviewees in this ‘3 Question’ interview series, Zainab and Purity, have suggested about how the world needs to be careful of how they present the narrative of Africa and how it is important to change the narrative of Africa to one that is more objective and balanced. These inspiring and insightful women, Zainab and Purity, have said precisely what I would say about peace.

There are certain principles that are inextricably tied to the idea of Peace, such as Love and Justice. We cannot disassociate these unified principles and thereby have a fragmented concept of peace. We need to build toward a more enlightened and practical idea of what peace in Africa means.

As I stated at the start of this interview, peace requires that we actively and consciously participate in creating and building peace daily, hourly.

This requirement is not just for Africa, but for the entire world, and for how our entire global community around the world interacts with Africa.

There are certain principles that are tied to the idea of Peace, such as Love and Justice. We cannot disassociate these unified principles and have a fragmented concept of peace.