By Winston Muleba II
“The sky is not the limit, you can go as high as you want to, and as long as you put your mind to It.” says Mutibo Chijikwa. Chijikwa is an entomologist and is currently working for Cotton Development Trust.
She says entomologist is simply the study of insects.
“Entomology is simply the study of insects. There are many disciplines that arise from this, but my area of specialization is insects as it relates to cotton production. Thus as an integrated pest management specialist my work involves developing strategies or technologies that are aimed at controlling the insects that attack cotton in a sustainable manner.” she says.
She says she was not an intelligent child in her early childhood and struggled in primary school but made up her mind to improve her grades.
“I put in the work needed (it was tough) but it paid off.”She says.
Chijikwa is a mother of one and has been married for over 2 years now.
“I am a female Scientist who tries to balance the demands of the work place and home as well. I love science and always knew from childhood that my career would revolve around that. I also love to have fun. Laughter is the best medicine for the soul. So I am quiet adventurous in my spare time. I love reading but I don’t do it as much as I should. I love swimming, volley ball and tennis but I rarely have the opportunity to play. I enjoy being with family and friends.” she says.
Chijikwa was born on the 28th of October, in a family of 7 children of her father’s side and only 5 of her mother’s side.
Her father is the late Dr Jeremiah Chijikwa (former Minister of Health in the early 90s) and Mrs Ethel Chijikwa, is a committed Christian of Grace Pentecostal Ministry in Magoye, Mazabuka.
She says her childhood was partly spent in Zambia and South Africa.
“I started my grade one at Lusaka Girls Primary School. When I reached grade four my father passed away and I started living with my late aunt Ms. Angela Simuule. She was a diplomat in South Africa so I finished my primary school at Waterkloof Primary School in Pretoria, South Africa.” She says.
Chijikwa says her childhood's worst moments had an effect on her performance at school for a few years.
“My childhood's worst moment was losing my father at the tender age of 8. That was my first experience of death and I was immediately shifted from my mother to living with my mother’s sisters. That was also a tough transition as I knew little about my maternal side of the family due to the type of environment my father shaped around us. I had to leave my mother in Zambia to go to South Africa at the age of 10. As much as it was a great opportunity for me, it was a hard time for me to transition from living with a large extended family to living with my aunt, her daughter and myself. That had an effect on my performance at school for a few years after that. But the impact my Aunty had on me turned out to be very huge as she became my second role model. She taught me to work hard and focus on achieving good grades in school.” She says
She adds that her good moments were when she lived with her family and when her father was alive.
“My good moments have to be the time I spent with my family when my father was still alive. We lived in a home that had a lot of extended families living with us all the time. Despite his faults, he was my first role model and helped shape the paths that lead me to my career.” She says.
Chijikwa says she wanted to follow her father’s career path.
“When I applied to study at the University of Zambia, I initially wanted to do medicine. The reason was simple; I wanted to be a doctor like my father.” She says.
Chijikwa describes her time at University of Zambia as being financially and academically challenging.
“University was full of financial challenges for me, but I thank God for the support of my dear friend Alice Yamanya Tembo and her family and key family members from my father and mother’s side of the family. Since my Aunty passed away before I completed my secondary school, I moved back to my mother’s house, who at the time had long retired and was unable to pay for my grade 12. I managed to finish grade 12 at the then International Tuition Centre where I met my best friend Dr Y Tembo. Knowing fully well that I had financial challenges she practically applied on my behalf to University of Zambia. When we both got accepted into Natural Sciences at University of Zambia, she helped me apply for a 75% bursary, which allowed me to be able to struggle through my life at University of Zambia. In first year I failed a course in Mathematics (M111), which killed my chances of going to medical school. That was shock for me but due to the good support network of my friends I ended up focusing on a double major in Entomology and Parasitology. My interest then was parasitology but as would later become evident I ended up enjoying entomology more.”
“Also during my time at UNZA I was never provided with accommodation. So for the first 3 years Dr Tembo and I would commute to and from the university every day. This is where her family was very supportive to me. Her mother gave us with accommodation in her dental clinic in Northmead, so that we didn’t spend too much money on transport to and from school. In my last year, one of our friends was given a room on campus and we moved in with her. But in my last semester I had to move back to home to provide my mother with support that she needed at the time.” She says
On balancing school at University, Chijikwa says, while she was still a student at UNZA she often had to share her allowance with home.
“At that time, things were so hard for my mother who had been out of employment for many years. So it was very difficult balancing school and helping out my mother.”
Despite facing many challenges, Chijikwa says she managed to overcome the challenges.
“I overcame these challenges by having good strong network of friends around me and my faith and trust in God. Many times I relied on God to help me get through the social and financial challenges. I found that God surrounded me with mothers who had a strong faith in God. Pastor Elizabeth Banda from the Children’s Ministry at Bread of Life ensured that I remained strong in the Lord no matter how tough things were. She spent a lot time praying for my family and me during my time at school. Also before I went to university I worked as a sales lady at Nkundah Cosmetics in emmasdale area. The owners of the shop Mr and Mrs Phiri were so supportive that they allowed me to work in their shops every time I was on vacation. Mrs Phiri would not only pay me for working for her, but she would also give me some cosmetics and groceries for free from the shop. As mentioned before my best friend, Alice Tembo had a wonderful family that provided me with a lot of support to see me through my studies. As mentioned her parents gave us free accommodation, many times she used to cook for us especially during exam period. Her mother Dr Stella Tembo would also pray for us as she has strong belief in God. My mother was also a strong support system for me. She supported and routed me on even when things seemed hard. She tried her best to help me out and ease some of my worries and challenges. The said challenges made me not to be involved in a lot of activities at the University because I was not based on campus and most of the time I was trying hard to keep up good grades.” She says.
Chijikwa explains her current activities in the community and at work.
“Currently the activities that I am involved in include: Training farmers to implement IPM in their farming activities, implementing of IPM in the cotton sector. This is part of my work and passion, encouraging young girls to finish school and go to university and helping young people in my community to get scholarships for their schooling.” She says.
She says she plans to study for a PhD.
“Apart from my Bachelor’s degree, I proceeded to obtain a Master’s of Science degree in Entomology which I completed last year. I also have plans to do my PhD or probably another Masters. I am yet to determine what that will be.” she says.
She says she has been working for Cotton Development Trust since she graduated.
“Ever since I graduated from UNZA in 2007, I have been working at the Cotton Development Trust. I was employed as a junior entomologist. 1 year later I was made entomologist and 2 years after that I became an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Specialist and currently I work as an Integrated Pest Management Specialist under the research department. .” she says.
“My contributions have mainly been in the cotton sector because I work for the only Cotton research organization that has been mandated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to conduct research in cotton. Hence I have made little contributions to other crops because I don’t work directly with them. But I am interested in all forms of agriculture and try by all means to apply diversity in my work.”
Chijikwa says 10 years from now she wants to be a Director.
“In ten years’ time I want to have completed my PhD and be one of the directors in the ministry of Agriculture or beyond. I love agriculture, it was never my first choice of study, but working with small holder farmers has been very fulfilling for me and I would want to continue in that line of work.” she says.
Chijikwa was an AWARD fellow from 2010 to 2012 and she says it helped her grow a lot in her professional and personal life.
“The AWARD fellowship is a career-development program that was established in 2008. It stands for African Women in Agricultural Research and Development. It equips top women in agricultural sciences across sub-Saharan African to accelerate agricultural gains by strengthening their research and leadership skills. This is through tailored fellowship. It is a catalyst for innovations with high potential to contribute to the prosperity and well-being of African smallholder farmers, most of whom are women.” she says.
“I was a fellow from 2010 -12 and it was as a result of the fellowship that I attended the Michelle Obama Young African Women Leaders Forum in South Africa in 2011. The Award fellowship allowed me to form a wide network of women scientists across the continent which has been instrumental in furthering my career. I learned and grew a lot in my professional and personal life as a result of the Award fellowship. I had a mentor by the name of Dr Mungoma who worked with me for two years during my fellowship. Another important thing that the fellowship did for me was to help develop on my leadership skills. At that time I had been working as counterpart to an IPM specialist, Dr M Khokhar form Pakistan. He was hired to establish the entomology department for two years and then leave Zambian to continue the work. The fellowship came at a time when he was leaving and I would head the unit. Hence the leadership lessons and trainings learned from the fellowship was what helped me through that transition period and be able to keep the department going. Though I completed my fellowship period, the program itself is still on going and I still encourage other fellow women scientist to apply for the fellowship as applications open every year. It is a program that is critical in not only getting women in science to sit at the table with the men, but also keep us there for the long haul.”
Chijikwa encourages young people especially women to pursue science based careers.
“I encourage young people especially women to pursue science based careers if that is their area of interest. One should not be intimidated at school that science is hard. It is no less challenging than a career in business or humanity based courses. What is important is to decide to do something, and whatever it is, work hard at it.”
“Young people must consider studying entomology if it is of interest to them. If you love working in the field, observing the behavior of insects and meeting with farmers then agricultural entomology is for you. It’s all about loving what you do. I support young people, who pursue their passion, be it entomology, music, anthropology, public management or art. As long as it is what you love to do.” she says
She says she uses her career to empower women through encouraging them to participate in decision making.
“IPM (integrated Pest management) means that I have to look at all possible control strategies to manage cotton pests. I thus empower women through encouraging them to participate in decision making when it comes to cotton production and providing them with knowledge and skill base to do that.”
She says government must consider including cotton under the fertilizer input support program.
“Most farmers have abandoned cotton production due to the labor intensiveness of the crop and poor market prices. In order for farmers to get into cotton and remain the government must assist the farmers to get a better price for their cotton also includes cotton under the Fertilizer Input Support program. The government must create a fund that will cushion the farmer against the fluctuations in the international price of cotton. Cotton has the ability to alleviate poverty.”
She says that Cotton farming is a viable business.
“Cotton is a viable business. It has the potential to change the lives of 250, 000 small holder farmers. It is a cash crop that provides farmers with immediate income although 100% of all the cotton produced in Zambia is sold outside the country as raw cotton. There is a need to set up spinning and weaving mills that will allow us produce fabric from our cotton before exporting it out to the international market. This will help increase what the farmers gets from their produce.” She says.
Chijikwa describes Washington fellowship program, as a unique opportunity to sample and interact with the continents finest and most promising leaders in Africa
“This program has significance value to me as it gathers 500 young leaders from 25 African countries and puts them in various universities to talk and learn about leadership. It takes people from all sorts of disciplines and brings them together. This programme is a unique opportunity to sample and interact with the continent’s finest and most promising leaders in Africa.”
“The relationships that I have built here among my fellow Africans and Americans will only better enable me continue in my efforts to fight poverty in my country. This program allows us to link together. Once I get back I intend to share everything that I have learned throughout this period with people that were not selected to be part of this team. I will share my experiences in my organization and community. I also intend to use social media to share some of the lessons learned.” she says.
Chijikwa says she is inspired by her late father.
“My role models are usually everyday people that have achieved small steps that people rarely take notice of. My late father Dr J B Chijikwa and my late aunty Angela Simuule are my role models when it comes to my career. They inspire me to work hard and achieve things that I never thought possible for myself. In life I aspire to be a follower of Christ who is the best example of servant leadership at its simplest.” she says.
She says she would want to be remembered as a daughter of her community.
“I would want people to remember me as daughter of her community. By this I mean I want them to remember a woman who believed in education and endeavored to help many young people attain secondary, tertiary education.”
The sky is not the limit; you can go as high as you want to. It is that simple, you can do it.
For comments mwenyamuleba@gmail.com / 0966 461 943/0950 594 050
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