science

Ruth Oniang'o

Ruth Oniang'o is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ruth Oniang'o rather than just read about it. In short: Ruth Khasaya Oniang'o (born September 9, 1946) is a Kenyan Professor of Nutrition and a former member of Parliament. She created Rural Outreach Africa (ROA) to empower smallholder farmers to reduce malnutrition, she oversaw her country's nutrition policy.

Key takeaways

Ruth Oniang'o belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ruth Oniang'o to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ruth Oniang'o from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ruth Khasaya Oniang'o (born September 9, 1946) is a Kenyan Professor of Nutrition and a former member of Parliament. She created Rural Outreach Africa (ROA) to empower smallholder farmers to reduce malnutrition, she oversaw her country's nutrition policy.

Life Oniang'o was born in 1946, in Kakamega County. She attended Washington State University where she obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees between 1969 and 1973. She began university teaching in 1978. She finished her education at University of Nairobi. In 1983 she was awarded a PhD by the University of Nairobi in Food Science and Nutrition. She is a leading nutritionist and became a Professor at Jomo Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Her research focused on topics such as food security, nutrition and pregnancy, childhood nutrition and agricultural processing. She founded the Rural Outreach Africa, ROA in 1992 to provide smallholder farmers with indigenous soil testing and to create a healthy rural community able to live and enjoy an active dignified life, and to access and utilize both internal and external resources to the full, and willing to contribute fully to the development of families, communities, and the nation while upholding respect for others. Oniang'o is the Founder Editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) in 2001 to highlight relevant academic research in the field. In 2002 she left academia to become active in Kenyan politics. She served in the 9th Kenyan Parliament from 2003 to 2007 and she was the first ever Shadow Minister for Education, Science and Technology. While serving, Oniang'o helped pass the Kenya Biosafety Bill and the Nutritionists and Dietetics Bills. In 2005, Oniang'o established the Diana Elukhambi Health Centre in Kakamega to serve her rural community and in remembrance of her Elder sister Diana, who became the First African Matron of Getrude's Garden Hospital, Nairobi. In 2018 she was on the board of the UK based NGO the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. Oniang'o leads her country's Food Security and Nutrition Taskforce who are charged with overseeing the delivery of the National Food and Nutrition Policy. Oniang'o also leads the Rural Outreach Africa, a non-profit organization which supports farmers in food production and agricultural processing. The Rural Outreach Africa works with Kenyan smallholder farmers to promote the growth of indigenous crops like sorghum, cassava, arrowroot, and jute mallow as a solution to ensuring food security and Nutrition. She has been on the following Boards: Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, Board Member KILIMO TRUST, Food Security and Sustainable Development Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Institute for Policy Research Analysis (IPAR), Former Board Chair, Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC), USA, Nutrition Third World Board, based in Belgium and supports Third World Nutrition Research, Member of Trustees for the International Rice Research Institute, CGIAR Centre, Project Advisory Committee of the HarvestPlus, and CGIAR Challenge Program seeking to enhance bioavailability of nutrients from food crops using conventional mean.

Awards Oniang'o has won several awards for her work in agriculture and food policy, including the Distinguished Service Medal and Silver Star. In 2014, she was awarded the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) Lifetime Award. She also won the Africa Food Prize in 2017 for her work with the Rural Outreach Program. On June 22, 2018, Oniang'o was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from University of Aberdeen in recognition of her contributions to her field. Oniang'o was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2017.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ruth Oniang'o

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ruth Oniang'o claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ruth Oniang'o before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ruth Oniang'o ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ruth Oniang'o

In research: Ruth Oniang'o appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ruth Oniang'o in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ruth Oniang'o is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1946 births, Food scientists, Kenyan politicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ruth Oniang'o outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ruth Oniang'o in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ruth Oniang'o means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ruth Oniang'o out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ruth Oniang'o in simple terms?

Why does Ruth Oniang'o matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ruth Oniang'o?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ruth Oniang'o.