On Wednesday July 3rd, The Walls Project hosted a group of 25 leaders from the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program at the Baton Roots community farm at BREC's Howell Park. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the founding flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a six-week leadership institutes which includes studying business, civic engagement, or public management at U.S. colleges or universities. The Fellows, between the ages of 25 and 35, are accomplished leaders and have established records of promoting innovation and positive impact in their communities and countries. This group of Fellows is studying at LSU and has connected with a number of local organizations for community service and other cultural experiences through the LSU Center for Community Engagement, Learning, & Leadership.
Fellows joined Baton Roots staff and summer interns for a farm tour, learning about the ways Baton Roots works to transform the local food system by growing nutrient-rich crops in areas of high food insecurity and training the next generation of urban farmers in South Louisiana. Fellows and staff planted sweet potatoes together.
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Following the tour and sweet potato planting, the Baton Roots team and Mandela Washington Fellow sat down with Stephanie Elwood of Southern Ag Extension and had an open conversation about food systems and urban agricultural work across geographical contexts.
Baton Roots Senior Program Coordinator Mitchell Provensal shared the following: "They were talking about the same problems we have here: people from rural areas moving into the urban areas, big corporations buying up rural land, growing commodity crops. They were discussing how they can inspire young farmers. A few [of the fellows] worked for agricultural non profits."
Provensal also shared, "Hosting the Mandela Washington Fellows was an honor. Our staff and youth summer program participants enjoyed connecting with people from across the globe to share our hopes and visions for a new agriculture system. It was interesting to hear of similar challenges we are all facing and the great success they have accomplished in their countries. It was truly inspiring and we hope to keep in touch for future collaboration!"
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