Prof. Dr. Cecilia Onyango

Cecilia Onyango is an Associate professor of Horticulture with over 18 years of experience in training, research and community outreach in crop production systems, the postharvest handling of produce, standards and food safety. Her main research focus has been on African traditional crop production, physiology, conservation and use, and the stress physiology and temperature-based modulation of growth and development in crops. She has experience in participatory farming and end-user technology evaluation, selection and adoption, in addition to systems intensification and market-led development. She has authored over 30 publications in refereed journals, books and book chapters, and supervised and mentored over 40 graduate students. She has expertise in Partnership Building and Resource Mobilization, having participated in implementing research grants; the most recent ones include: Food safety in produce from informal settlements in Kenya (2020- 2022); Earth observation and environmental sensing for climate-smart sustainable agro-pastoral ecosystem transformation in East Africa (ESSA) (2020-2024); and Capacity development for conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources for agricultural productivity, resilience and sustainable livelihoods in East and Central Africa (2014-2018). She embraces a systems thinking approach to create sustainable food systems to achieve food security and nutrition through the application of multifaceted and multi-sector efforts.