Livestock and Climate community facilitator, Paulina Ngurumwa, takes pastoralist concerns to the World Food Prize

Paulina Peter Ngurumwa, a community facilitator affiliated with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and part of KINNAPA Development Programme, Kiteto District, Tanzania, brought her extensive pastoralist expertise to the forefront at the World Food Prize held in Des Moines, Iowa USA.  

Invited to contribute to a panel discussion titled “Farmers at the Forefront: Delivering Global Climate, Adaptation and Food System Solutions” by the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue of the World Food Prize Foundation, Ngurumwa shared insights into her work with ILRI through the CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate. She highlighted efforts to help communities secure their land rights, enhance rangeland management and address gender-based violence.   

Ngurumwa, who leads the Gender, Women’s and Children’s Affairs Unit at KINNAPA, plays a pivotal role in developing and implementing Livestock and Climate core innovations such as joint village land use planning (JVLUP) and participatory rangeland management (PRM). 

These innovations by Livestock and Climate have contributed to strengthening tenure security and improving rangeland management across 180,000 hectares of community land. Ngurumwa has actively promoted the participation of women in these processes through initiatives like Women’s Leadership Forums, addressing critical issues such as gender-based violence.  

As an advocate for women and girls who may lack the confidence to speak out in their community, Ngurumwa supports KINNAPA’s girl’s education program. Her goal is to convince pastoralists to send their girls to school and fully empower women in her community.  

 Reflecting in her participation at the Norman E. Borloug dialogue as part the World Food Prize, Ngurumwa said that ‘The participatory dialogue brought in a diversity of ideas related to the enhancement of food security worldwide.’ She highlighted the importance that ‘hunger is a public good that every one of us must fight against. We should not be greedy.’ 

In addition to contributing to the panel discussion, Ngurumwa engaged with many people, including the Honorable Sahle-Work Zewde, president of Ethiopia, and Dr. Appolinaire Djikeng, CGIAR Livestock Systems Director and Director General ILRI.  

 See the photo diary of her visit: My Learning Experience from the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, Idaho (presentation, 2023) . 

Header photo: Paulina Ngurumwa speaking at the Norman E. Borlaug World Food Prize. Photo by P.Ngurumwa/ILRI.