Dr. Abigael Nekesa Otinga

Abigael Nekesa Otinga is a Soil Scientist at the University of Eldoret (UoE) whose roles include
but not limited to teaching, research and outreach. As a lecturer in the Department of Soil
Science, her area of specialization is Soil Chemistry, Fertility and Plant Nutrition. In the Soil
Science Department, she heads the research committee and is in charge of the department’s
curricula. Dr Otinga holds a B.Sc and M.Phil from Moi University and a PhD from the prestigious
Katholieke University, in Leuven, Belgium. After her undergraduate studies, she worked as an
extension officer at Vi-Agro forestry Project, in Kitale after which joined Moi University for the
M.Phil with a scholarship from Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture
(RUFORUM). Dr Otinga is a Principle Investigator (PI) and a collaborator in various projects
dealing with rural agricultural development and capacity building in higher institutions, the most
recent being a PI, on the RUFURUM funded Graduate Research Grant (GRG) that is involved with
training of 2 MSc students. She is currently a proud holder of the African Women in Agricultural
Research and Development (AWARD) Fellowship. Dr. Otinga has passion working with
smallholder farmers and is involved in various projects in this aspect. In relation to this she has
published several articles in soil fertility management of the tropics specific to optimizing
production from minimal inputs in the region. She sits on the Green Farming Visions
Organization Project’s Board of Directors as the Vice Chairperson and is also chair of the Welfare
Organization in the Department of Soil Science. Otinga is a member of the Soil Science Society of
East Africa, the Soil Science Society of America, the Crop science Society of America and the
American society of Agronomy. As a result of passionately engaging in rural agricultural
development, Otinga has interacted with various stakeholders in multi-disciplinary fora.