Letters / Write a motivational letter for MSC scholarship swedish University of Agricultural Sciences [3]

Letter of motivation

My research interests include the areas of animal production and health, which I hope to take advantage of in the program. I intend to formulate and carry out a research program that will contribute towards sustainable animal production and health globally. The program that I intend to pursue will also contribute towards addressing some of the challenges in the development of the rural sector of Nigeria, which I believe has been grossly undermined byineffective rural policies and poor rural governance. The thesis prospectus that I intend to develop aims to not only address the challenges of sustainable animal production and health but also have the potential to contribute to their solution.

In the course of my Bachelor's degree, I took courses in General Biology, Animal Breeding and Genetics, Applied Chemistry, Applied Animal Biotechnology, Animal Anatomy, and Physiology which I understand are prerequisites for admission into the Animal Science Master's program. My Bachelors's studies revealed to me the importance of animal welfare, responsible production, and consumption to ensuring that the challenges of zero hunger and ensuring the achievement of the SDGs are addressed. I have chosen this program because I believe the theoretical and practical knowledge I will acquire will prepare me to help tackle these challenges in my country, Nigeria.

I was a Graduate Assistant at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomosho, Nigeria. In my role, I was responsible for animal science projects, on one of those projects, the poultry birds' performance was threatening to the project because, even though we had optimized their feedstuff to the point that it fulfilled their nutrient requirements and had given them adequate space to grow, their growth performance was still poor. So I embarked on a research project to identify and experiment with different feedstuffs to boost the growth of poultry birds. I experimented on the poultry birds and showed them different feedstuffs with different vegetable oil (palm oil, shea butter, and palm kernel oil) I showed that palm kernel oil can improve the growth of poultry birds as evident from the increase in their weight, rate of weight gain and increase in their feather uniformity. My findings improved the growth performance of the poultry birds that led to an increase in the project's overall productivity. I believe that my work experience, as well as mydetermination to be the best, will help in my success in its academic program.

I served as a corp member of the Youth Development Corps SDGs Advocacy project in 2016. I was posted in a community in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria where almost all the children did not go to high school. During my service year in this community, I led a team of volunteersto organize and manage several activities. I reached out to them, trained and mentored a minimum of fifty DFK Volunteers within the community, and helped them to acquire the necessary skills for them to add value to the community as well as themselves. The students who were previously idle and unoccupied now had careers. They also gained an outlook and role model to emulate as they all had successful careers after they attained their certificates. This outreach work provided me with the opportunity to develop my people skills and leadership skills as I can effectively communicate and interact with a large number of people.

I am interested in joining the profession of research or teaching. My long-term goal is to research Sustainable Livelihoods in Africa, with a focus on Food Security, and Animal Health and Welfare. Shortly, I see myself working in the Higher Education Department of a University (Post-Doctoral) to help mentor younger scholars and students, who find themselves interested in the fields of research and teaching. I have chosen to study at SLU because it is the third-best university in the world in the subject of agriculture. I look forward to studying at a top university in Sweden, and I want to have strong connections to the UN's sustainability goals. My professional agribusiness experience will contribute to the diversity of the program and the university's international applicant pool, while my involvement in the global agribusiness community will facilitate the development of strong connections to the UN's sustainability goals. My participation in the program will add significant value to the university's reputation in the academic community.