Samantha Salimu is in the third and final year of studying agricultural economics and extension at the University of Zimbabwe. During her studies, she has also worked at two farms in order to learn in-depth the way agriculture is practiced and marketed and its importance to rural livelihoods. Samantha is very passionate about empowering women and fulfills that passion as a member of Simuka Arise Initiative and Young Excel clubs at her university.

She is attending the GLFP in order to gain as much knowledge as possible on agricultural innovation and then apply it in her home country and continent at large to improve livelihoods, economies and the environment. Samantha is particularly interested in agricultural biotechnology because she believes agriculture is the main driver of most economies, and for it to be sustainable and able to support the escalating world population, it has to be backed by scientific innovation and technology.