After a three month long internship at WorldVeg headquarters, Faidat Ibrahim shares her thoughts about her experience…

My journey started 18 months ago when I was accepted to study a Master’s in International Agriculture Program (MIAP) Oklahoma State University. I was also offered a scholarship as a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the environmental science undergraduate program at Ferguson College of Agriculture, at the same university. In my second semester, program director Karl Rich spoke to me about gaining experience outside the US and that this could be a wonderful opportunity. He connected me to Lukas Pawera, agroecologist at WorldVeg in Taiwan, and after many emails and video meetings, I realized that WorldVeg would be a great destination to enrich my international experience.

It has been a transformative journey for me at WorldVeg. Connecting with so many people from diverse backgrounds, learning Asian traditions of this new country for me, Taiwan, the wonderful hospitality, working with the Agroecology team there, and conducting my master’s thesis project at their experimental site. One of the highlights of this journey was the chance to be there for the 50^th anniversary, golden jubilee celebrations of WorldVeg – meeting hundreds of people from 50 different countries, attending Vegetable Science Day, Vegetable Futures Roundtable and the public Open Science Day, where I got to network with so very many people! I also very much appreciated meeting two Africans who are on the Board of Directors of the World Vegetable Center. This was truly remarkable. And I admire the inclusiveness of WorldVeg with the kind acts shown by Marco Wopereis (Director General) and especially on the 50^th birthday dinner. This journey has so positively impacted both my personal and professional growth.

What is regenerative agriculture, and why study it for my thesis?

Regenerative agriculture focuses on the restoration of soil health. It is estimated that 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost annually, and that about 90% of the Earth’s land area will be degraded by 2050. Everyone requires nourishing food, making this one of the biggest problems facing humanity today. There is an urgent need to ensure our soil is healthy because healthy soil leads to healthy plants which ultimately leads to healthy humans. There are five main principles in regenerative agriculture, which are to minimize soil disturbance, keep the soil covered, maximize crop diversity, maintain living roots year-round, and integrate livestock. As soils are managed rather unsustainably in vegetable production, we need to identify new regenerative practices.

During my research at WorldVeg, I focused on two regenerative principles through a two-factor field experiment. We looked at okra production and soil health under different levels of tillage, in combination with different mulch treatments, including biodegradable mulch. Okra is a very popular vegetable in Nigeria my home country, and it is a crop with growing interest across Africa and Asia. Preliminary findings showed that reduced tillage in combination with mulch could increase yields and improve some soil properties. It was a large and laborious experiment over a plot of 2737 m², but I enjoyed every phase of it. I learnt a lot from the experiment, and I experienced the joy and feeling of being an okra farmer with a bumper harvest!

In just three months, I learned so much under the expertise of Lukas Pawera and his research assistant Cheng-Wei. I made more international connections with new friends from India, Australia, Guatemala and Indonesia and look forward to creating a lifetime connection with them. Back in the United States, I express my gratitude to Program Director Karl Rich and Graduate Coordinator Pam Bay in the Ferguson College of Agriculture for their instrumental roles in making my experience truly amazing. Special thanks to Don and Cathey Humphreys’ Study Abroad Scholarship for generously sponsoring my trip. Additionally, my appreciation extends to Dr Galvin, Mr Galvin, Dr Hickman, Catie Noles, and the Environmental Science Department.

And after my final internship presentation, I was so proud to receive my certificate from WorldVeg DG Marco Wopereis, in person! What next? I will finish my master’s degree at Oklahoma State and head to Australia to start my family, while professionally, I hope to work with an organization like WorldVeg in the near future.

Faidat Ibrahim

Ferguson College of Agriculture / Oklahoma State University Master of International Agriculture Program