Lungowe is from the rural village of Sefula in western Zambia and is the first in her family to attend university. For Lungowe, agriculture is not a career, but rather a way of life. She says, “I’ve been working in agriculture ever since I was an able human being…my mother is a peasant farmer, so it is simply part of who I am. When I was a baby, my mom would carry me to the rice field with her and I began helping as soon as I was capable.”
After graduating from high school in 2012, she completed an entrepreneurship workshop and started her own business selling rice, but was earnestly looking for opportunities to go to university as well. She says, “I wanted to study at EARTH because it is a natural continuation of my life: I’ve grown up in agriculture and it is part of me.” She goes on to say, “Having a degree in agriculture will be very helpful, they will think you are a very strong woman because it is rare for a woman to have a college degree, and if you are a leader in agriculture it’s all the better. There are a lot of campaigns for women’s empowerment in Zambia, so I will have the support of all women behind me.”
