Two Minutes

An agronomist who helps the hungry feed themselves

For people in central Africa, three meals a day are a rare luxury.

The director of Iowa State University's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods is working to change that luxury into an everyday reality.

Subsistence farmers to exporters: The center brings faculty and students in agriculture, sociology, animal science and teaching together in the central African country of Uganda. They help the small landholder farmers move from subsistence-level farming, to marketing their agricultural products, to growing enough to export.

When new director Mark Westgate, a professor in agronomy, was approached about heading the CSRL, he was surprised.

A surprisingly good fit: "I had never been to Africa. I didn't know much about agriculture in Africa. I just wasn't sure this was right for me," he said.

After seeing firsthand the life-changing work the center does, he is now certain it's right.

"I come to work everyday and I really enjoy it, because I know that this program is so transformative. It is so energizing to see people get involved and say 'I can make a difference,'" he said.

Difference-makers: "I don't have to change the world, but I can make a difference through the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods program. And that's what I see every day. Students who go over there say 'I'm making a difference.' The faculty who go over there say 'I'm making a difference.' It really is a wonderful program for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the university."

-- Dan Kuester