Grace Gachara

Biography:

Grace Gachara is a Kenyan female scholar who is passionate about using science to solve day-to-day problems. Born and breed in the rural outskirts of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, Grace is well versed with the concepts of food scarcity and food shortage; both of which have contributed immensely to shaping the trajectory of her career as a plant microbiologist. She has over ten years’ experience working in this field where most of her work focuses on understanding the impact of fungal toxins (mycotoxins) on maize cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work demonstrates the importance of finding lasting solutions to recurrent mycotoxin outbreaks in Kenya, especially given the fact that this East African country remains highly food insecure, a situation that is further aggravated by the adverse effects of climate change. Together with her local community, Grace helps farmers and agronomists to adopt alternative methods of farming, such as those that move way from rain-fed agriculture, overreliance on mono-cropping and even planting novel plant hybrids that are more drought, heat and stress tolerant. Currently, Grace is pursuing her doctoral degree in Marrakech, Morocco where the focal point of her research is the development of novel non-toxigenic fungal strains that can be used to combat the active producers of mycotoxins within a Kenyan context.