DEJI Olanike Fasilat
Professor (Mrs.) Olanike, F. Deji (nee Olaniyan) obtained her B. Agric. (First Class Hons.), M. Phil. and Ph.D. from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in 1994, 1998, and 2002 respectively. She joined the academic service of the University as a Graduate Assistant on 1st June 1995, and rose through the ranks to a Become the first female Professor in the Department in 2012. She was a laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRA) in 1998. She was awarded a grant to attend a DAAD sponsored Ahfad-Humboldt Link Programme workshop on Gender Research and Networking in Germany and Sudan in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Her interests are in women and gender empowerment for Sustainable Rural Community Development; gender responsive Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies; Agricultural Informatics and Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Agricultural Innovation Dissemination and Rural Advisory; e-agricultural Innovation Dissemination and Rural Advisory e-agricultural extension and community engineering strategies and models. Prof. (Mrs.) Deji also works in the area of participatory methodology in Gender and Rural Development Research. She was the Head of Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development from 2018 and 2020. She was the Acting Head of Department during 2013/2014 and 2015/2016 sessions. She was a fellow of Norman Borlaug program for women scientists, USA (2008); ACU/TITULAR fellowship of the University of Manitoba, Canada (2009); and George Foster fellowship for experienced Researcher of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany (2009-2011). She is a recipient of the Humboldt Foundation Alumni Award in 2012. She won the equipment grant by the Humboldt Foundation to procure the first sets of 20-desktops in the Agricultural Media Resources Laboratory (AMREL), and the Artificial Intelligence-enable Agriculture Research and Communication Laboratory (IA-ARCLAB) in the Department. She has successfully organized two international workshop and conference with sponsorship from the Humboldt Foundation of Germany.
She is a sole author of two volumes of academic books and published more than 60 articles in reputable peer reviewed Journals. Prof. (Mrs.) Deji is a member of a number of professional associations such as Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria (AESON), Rural Sociological Association of Nigeria (RuSAN), International Research and Development Network of Children and Youth in Agriculture Programme (CYIAP), Community Platform for African-European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development Phase II (PAEPARD II), just to mention a few. Professor Deji has contributed to the development of the Department immensely; she successfully anchored the mainstreaming of gender into the Department curriculum and single handedly coordinated the development of the curriculum and modules as well as the approval procedure for the commencement of Bachelor of Science (BSc.) Degree in E-Agricultural Extension and Community Engineering, supported by the Sasakawa Africa Funds for Extension Education (SAFE), and the establishment of an enterprise centre for Natural Fruits Juice Production Centre sponsored by SAFE. She is a co-founder of the first Agricultural Informatics Research Laboratory (AirLab) and founder of the AI-ARCLAB for Artificial Intelligence integration to Agricultural Extension and Rural Advisory services in Nigeria. She has successfully supervised 1 Postdoctoral, 6 Ph.D, 4 M.Phil. and 4 M.Sc. students. Professor Deji has meritoriously served the Faculty and the University in many ways; She has participated in many international conferences, workshops, and seminars in Africa, Canada, Europe, and United States of America.