Ifpri short video contest: planting my path in nepalese agriculture

Second in a series of guest posts by winners of IFPRI’s My Food, Our Future short video contest for young people. Read the first here.

When I was 12 years old, my grandfather asked me to go farming with him. I remember waking up before sunrise, picking up the Nepalese traditional hand tools for tilling corn and going outside into the crisp air with five other farmers. As we headed towards the farm, I saw the first rays of the sun, rising from the Himalayas. For the next eight years, I saw similar sunrises as I went farming with my grandfather every season. There, I learned of the techniques and instincts of a farmer, but also the problems and politics surrounding agriculture. My childhood has led me to find a purpose in studying agricultural science so that I can help farmers like my grandfather, as well as the environment in which the farmers work.

Photo: Courtesy Grace Tiwari