06/10/21

问答:“更多的女孩只需要受到指导”

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更多的女孩只需要受到指导。版权:Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment,,,,CC BY-NC 4.0

速度阅读

  • Plant engineer leading Uganda’s banana research programme
  • Priver Namanya Bwesigye说她的父亲是她的导师
  • More girls need mentors to support them to pursue science careers

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在澳大利亚昆士兰技术大学完成植物生物技术博士学位的道路上,Priver Namanya Bwesigye的第一名是她的父亲。

现在是国家农业研究组织的乌干达香蕉研究计划负责人,纳马尼亚告诉scidev.net像父亲一样,在导师的支持下,更多的女孩可以跟随她的职业脚步。

Priver Namanya Bwesigye。图片来源:Halima Athumani

乌干达是世界上顶级的香蕉生产国家之一。我们为什么需要研究香蕉?

We have the bananas, yes, but we’ve got to understand them. They are growing in farming systems and so, the systems need to be understood. There is crop production, there is trade, value addition. These crops get challenges, you know, they interact with the environment. There are diseases and pests that affect these crops. So, we need to study them to know how to manage them, to support the farming communities, for production but also for trade and use.

自2005年以来,乌干达一直在繁殖使用维生素A的香蕉A。您对香蕉研究有多远?

我们一直在处理许多挑战。香蕉自然中含有维生素A,但在[乌干达的马托克(Matoke)的本地物种,也称为东非高地香蕉]中很低。作为一个国家,我们有大量的儿童和青少年缺乏维生素。有一些香蕉品种具有高水平的维生素A,但在乌干达不存在这些香蕉。我们能够使用生物技术来获取[来自其他品种]的构建块,并在此处介绍了我们的本地品种。

为什么在当地社区引入研究的香蕉品种需要这么长时间?

We released a hybrid [in] about 2009 … that is supposed to be eaten ripe. It is called FHIA-17. We introduced it from a breeding centre called FHIA [Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research]. At that time, many plantations in the central Buganda region had been wiped out because of the disease called black sigatoka, which eats up all the leaves and they become dry. We also have varieties that we have released from our conventional breeding [programme], which are a match for our local [cooking] varieties.

The bananas that we have improved using biotechnology for improved vitamin A are currently undergoing confined field trials at research centres. It’s a more advanced product, we’re in the final stages, we’re collecting all the data … when the policy system has been streamlined, we hope that it will be released.

Do you think genetic engineering will solve the question of food insecurity in the region?

基因工程不是要解决所有问题的子弹。当您谈论干旱时,我们会下雨[但]我们不会收获水。我们需要做更多的事情来改变我们的耕种方法,转向机械化,远离农民。您有农民,小规模农民,首先是加强他们共同生产,获取投入,共同营销的能力。因为您有丰收的收成,突然之间没有任何东西,因为没有存储或收获后管理系统,也没有功能性的系统来增加营销价值。例如,如果我们收获水并且能够灌溉,那么我们将在全年中植入蔬菜。我们需要做更多的事情来改造农业部门。

我们如何让更多的女人跟随您的脚步?

我父亲把我送到学校,他是为了送我们所有人上学 - 男孩和女孩而刻意。那是第一。其次,我们都被鼓励是我们最好的。当我上学时,我认为老师扮演着重要的角色,以及他们与孩子说话的方式。需要鼓励女孩,将自己视为同样好。In some societies, they’ll tell you: ‘Why do you send a girl to school, after all she’s going to get married?’ It’s as if you don’t need to learn to be a mother, because the mother is the first teacher. More girls just need to be mentored. Help them to find themselves. I was aware of myself, and I picked up my confidence and I knew that I could be anything. And so here I am.

为了清晰和简洁,这次采访已被编辑。

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.

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