Fally with daughter Emma (left) and sister Linga (right).
Fally Masambuka is the social chair for the Graduate Student Association (GSA) so you may receive e-mails from her detailing various events and happenings that all ACEL graduate students are welcome to attend. In an effort to get to know each other a bit more, Fally has offered to be the first student to be highlighted in this Graduate Student Spotlight.
Fally was born in Zomba, Malawi and raised in the capital city of Lilongwe where she completed her elementary and secondary education. Lilongwe is located in the central plains region of Malawi and features a humid subtropical climate. Lilongwe has a short wet season that runs from December to March and a dry season the rest of the year. Lilongwe has a population similar to that of Columbus at just over a million people.
Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, has a subtropical climate and is known for tilapia chambo, a delicacy found only in Lake Malawi.
Fally completed her undergraduate degree at Bunda College of Agriculture which is now known as Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). After completing her undergraduate degree at Bunda, Fally traveled to the United States where she earned her Master’s degree in Agricultural Communication at Purdue University in 2013. After earning her MS, Fally returned to Malawi where she worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in the Department of Extension Services as the chief Agricultural Communications officer. In 2016, Fally joined the graduate program here at OSU where she is completing her PhD in International Development. Fally is hoping to conduct her doctoral research in Malawi where she will look at how Agricultural Communication can be used promotes farmer’s participation in agricultural programs. She is specifically interested in understanding which voices are being heard and which voices are not.
Fally is here in Columbus with her husband Emmanuel, and her four-year-old daughter Emma but still misses her family back in Malawi. It is difficult to be so far away from family and Fally recently had to miss the wedding of one of her sisters. She keeps in touch with the family through WhatsApp and her daughter especially misses playing with Fally’s youngest sister, Linga, who is seven years old. Aside from family, Fally misses the access to local and indigenous foods in Malawi. One specialty is dried pumpkin leaves. Malawi is also famous for a type of tilapia know as tilapia chambo which is only found in Malawi.
Fally with husband Emmanuel
Fally can be found in the Graduate Student office in 109 Agricultural Administration building and is the Social Chair of the Graduate Student Association. She would like as many ACEL graduate students as possible to participate in GSA events and is open to any suggestions you might have.