Wangari Kuria: Viral Farmer On Fire CEO Bags Global Award

Wangari Kuria, aka “Farmer on Fire,” an agri-fluencer (Agriculture Influencer) and mushroom farmer based in Kitengela, was announced on Tuesday, April 11 as the winner of the 2023 Global Citizen Prize award in the Kenya category.

Kuria was recognised by the international education and advocacy organization based in Australia in the Citizen Award category for her stint as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Farmer on Fire Limited, an organization based in Nairobi which seeks to eliminate hunger and improve food production safety through digital means.

Her firm also links established agribusinesses like AGRA, John Deere, Heifer International, and the Ministry of Agriculture to over 50,000 Smallholder farmers that follow the brand through digital channels that include YouTube.

Wangari Kuria posing with strawberries. /FACEBOOK.WANGARI KURIA

"Wangari is also passionate about the vulnerable single mothers from the pastoralist communities who are most affected by climate change and she incubates them in her model farms where she commercially produces mushrooms, BSFLarvae and Azolla.

"She additionally trains the ladies table banking and in the end of the three months, They go ahead and start their own mushroom farming businesses," Global Citizen explained in part.

The Global Citizen Prize is a yearly award that recognizes and celebrates the unsung activists who are fighting the good fight, going above and beyond to tick things off the world’s most important to-do list: the United Nations’ Global Goals.

The 2023 Global Citizen Prize Citizen Award recognized four trailblazing activists who are profoundly impacting their local communities across food security, climate change, civic space, and sexual and reproductive health, in the fight to end extreme poverty, demand equity, and protect the planet, in line with Global Citizen’s campaign to End Extreme Poverty NOW. Other award winners include:

1. Nkosana Butholenkosi Masuku from Zimbabwe, Founder & CEO Phenomtech-Sciency Learning who won the Cisco Youth Leadership Award
2. Deja Foxx, Activist & Founder of GenZ Girl Gang who won the Citizen Award, USA
3. Pashtana Durrani, Social & Political Rights Activist & Executive Director of LEARN Afghanistan who won the Citizen Award in Afghanistan
4. Ineza Umuhoza Grace, Global Coordinator & Co-Founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, who won the Citizen Award in Rwanda

Each of this year’s winners will receive a year-long program of support from Global Citizen, together with a donation to their organization to further support their work. Proud Global Partners of the Global Citizen Prize 2023 include Cisco, an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation, Citi (global investment bank), and Procter & Gamble (P&G) (multinational consumer goods corporation).

The award recipients will be honoured at a ceremony taking place during the Global Citizen NOW summit at The Glasshouse in New York City on Thursday, April 27. The ceremony will be hosted by actress, humanitarian, and Global Citizen Ambassador Nomzamo Mbatha and feature appearances by Sabrina Dhowre Elba, Chair of Global Citizen's Europe Board of Directors and United Nations IFAD Goodwill Ambassador; Padma Lakshmi, producer, TV host, author, and activist; Bridget Moynahan, Global Citizen Ambassador; and Erna Solberg, Former Prime Minister of Norway; and will feature performances by Natasha Bedingfield, Chloe Flower, and Samara Joy.

Global Citizen NOW is a two-day summit taking place in New York City on April 27 and 28, convening government leaders, private sector executives, grassroots activists, cultural innovators, philanthropic experts, and leading journalists to set a global agenda for action on the most urgent issues facing humanity and the planet

Kuria holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the United States International University (USIU) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Political Science and Communication at the University of Nairobi (UoN).

She is well-known for hosting online spaces with hundreds of women who farm to discuss, learn, vent and pursue various opportunities in agriculture and for running the Farmer on Fire show which is available on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Kuria was recently among eight Kenyans who emerged winners in the categories of capacity building, agriculture, journalism, social enterprise, education, environmental and climate sustainability, science, and surgery during the Forty Under 40 Africa Awards held in South Africa, and who was hosted by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in his office.