Scholar Comfort Onyaga uses global networks to advance food security in Nigeria

Comfort Onyaga came to Australia in January 2024 eager to make the most of her time in Australia by gaining networks with global leaders in agriculture, food security and climate change.  She is an excellent example of what is possible in terms of networking and building linkages during a scholarship in Australia. Many of these opportunities came to her through conversations with her Student Contact Officer and by getting involved in the International Students Office of her university.

Recognising that Australia continues to deal with climate related disasters, she hopes that completing a Master of Food Security at Murdoch University will help her gain the technical knowledge to become an industry leader, progressing Nigeria’s efforts to take climate action and meet zero hunger targets.

Like many other countries, Nigeria is in the midst of a climate change crisis. In 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organisation noted that over 440,000 hectares of farmland has faced damage from climate change related flooding, resulting in 19 million people facing severe food insecurity. With more extreme weather patterns likely to continue, increased food insecurity is expected. However, Comfort realised that key to dealing with food insecurity in Nigeria is actively networking and knowledge sharing with diverse stakeholders globally.

Her Australian networks

Comfort often visits the International Den at Murdoch University where she meets fellow international students that allows her to connect with other scholars with similar experiences of having to adapt to a new country and university. Here, they sometimes also indulge in new hobbies such as knitting.

On her quest to build her Australian networks, Comfort joined the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) in February 2024 and subsequently submitted a research paper which she presented at the annual conference held at University of Western Australia in partnership with the Forest Research Foundation in September 2024. This was followed by her joining the Australia’s Future Farmers Network in May 2024, an  organisation which connects members from diversified agricultural backgrounds. Through this network, she hopes to gain new insights from other young professionals to apply key learnings to drive change in Nigeria.

Comfort also volunteered for the Study Perth All Around the World Welcome International Student Event where she shared Nigerian food and information about her homeland. As a proud Nigerian woman, she appreciated the opportunity to showcase her heritage as part of a broader Australia-global culture exchange activity.

Comfort participated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Challenge on Campus. The challenge is a competition that seeks to unite students from diverse backgrounds to address real-world business cases from sponsors linked to the SDGs. Through this activity, she led her team to design a 10 to 20 years strategic plan to make Fremantle an innovative food hub for Western Australia. The activity seeks support organisations to meet their sustainability targets while setting students up to be future changemakers in sustainable practices across the globe. After her engagement in the Sustainability Challenge, Comfort continues to participate in activities that advance sustainability on campus and was recently elected First President of the Students Organising for Sustainability (S.O.O.) Murdoch University Chapter.

Global networks

Comfort is a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Youth Climate Movement (UNFCCC YOUNGO) Food and Agricultural Working Group where she represents Nigeria and contributes to strategy documents and discussions that shape global food systems. Her key international network is the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) where she works extensively across their different networks. This year she joined the Oceania Chapter and as member of their Oceania Regional Young Board. She helps to develop a strategic plan for the Oceania Young Professionals Board and also volunteers as Program Manager of IFAMA’s Global Venture Building Challenge. This allowed her to travel to Almeria in Spain in June 2024 as part of a Student Case Competition at the #IFAMA2024 World Conference. Representing Murdoch University, her team came second in the International Graduate Category.

“I see real value in actively participating IFAMA activities as this allows me to leverage access to networks of global professionals and industry players to support my Re-integration Action Plan (RAP) objectives,” she says.

Ms. Onyaga’s networking does not end here, she successfully submitted an abstract for an Agrico Conference held in Thailand and has also been nominated to participate in the World Food Forum (WFF) Youth Assembly Flagship event at the FAO Headquarters in Rome in October 2024 where she gave a keynote speech in addition to other engagements at the United Nations FAO Headquarters.

According to Comfort she gets joy and fulfillment from her participation as these activities support both her short and long term personal and professional goals. She continues to be motivated by the urgent need to solve the problems that challenge food systems both in Nigeria and globally. With the growing climate crisis and population growth likely to be felt most acutely in Africa and Asia, the dilemma of food security is always front of mind for Comfort while sharing knowledge with those directly affected by climate change is important to her.

Despite the time difference, Comfort actively contributes to national discussions in Nigeria through webinars where she shares the knowledge gained through her studies and networking experiences. She is already working on establishing an Indigenous Community of Practice (CoP) with farmers and agricultural organisations to share information on climate smart and safe practices that will increase food security and advance Nigeria’s agricultural sector in alignment with her Reintegration Action Plan. She is currently firming up plans and mapping out organisations that will be part of the Indigenous Community of Practice (I-COP).

While her own research also helped a lot, Comfort stresses that connecting with others helps significantly. She often leveraged Nigeria’s Australia Awards alumni network, connecting with alum Richard Agetu who mentored her on available opportunities in Australia.

Comfort has the following advice to scholars in Australia: “Do not limit yourself to classroom activities because the world we live in today is beyond academic performance. Participating in extracurricular activities will equip you with life skills and are platforms for you to market yourself as a global brand. The networks you build today are the building blocks to the future you want.”