Scholarship
Danika Schaaf of Des Moines, IA is currently a freshman at Iowa State University, majoring in Global Resource Systems.
Danika was a World Food Prize Youth Institute participant in the fall of 2008, where she presented a paper titled "A Look at What is Keeping Sri Lanka from Food Security" to World Food Prized Laureates and international experts. Her report revealed both historical and modern challenges to agriculture in Sri Lanka. Danika outlined how a plan for increased information and production would benefit individual farmers and the country as a whole by granting them more independence.
The Youth Institute,a prerequisite for International Internship eligibility, exposes young Iowans to opportunities associated with careers in food, agriculture and natural resource disciplines.
Earlier this year Danika was awarded a 2009 World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan International Summer Internship for high school students at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India. In addition to successfully immersing herself in a new culture and making many friends from India and other countries during her eight-week internship, Danika worked under the supervision of Dr. Sudha Nair to study how community ponds have affected the lives of rural women in Meiyagoundanpatti, Pudukottai. She created a questionnaire and led an interview process with the women to collect first-hand opinions on the project's efficacy. With these interviews Danika concluded that the use of community ponds decreased women's workload by half and, because of an increase in time and water, families could plant a wider variety of crops. This allowed the families to increase their income and invest in their children's health and education.
Additional Awards, Recognition & Activities:
- Academic Recognition Award (ISU)
- Agriculture-Academic Dean Scholarship (ISU)
- Future of Agriculture Scholarship Program (ISU)
- Chinese Language Proficiency, 5th Year Student
- Tae Kwon Do Studies
To apply for International Internship, please apply at the World Food Prize website.