Hatano wins Ryerson award

Rikiya Hatano sees agriculture as a pathway for people in rural areas to achieve self-sufficiency, economic stability and dignity. He aims his life’s work toward helping them do that - especially in his native Japan. Supporting him in that goal: Hatano is the 2023 recipient of the Knowles A. Ryerson Award, administered by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and given to a foreign undergraduate in the college of agriculture.

Hatano is a fourth-year student, majoring in international agricultural development with Amanda Crump. His focus is rural community development. “I’m so excited for him,” said Crump, an associate professor of teaching in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. “He is an amazing student and truly a joy to teach.”

The Ryerson award provides a scholarship of $2,500.

Hatano would like to work for an international organization such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or organizations linked to the United Nations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development or the World Food Programme.

“I want to support people through agriculture who suffer from inequality, discrimination and poverty in rural areas in both developed and developing countries,” Hatano said. “I’m interested in agriculture because it is a stable source of nutrients and income.”

Hatano also has a deeper motivation: “I would like to give back my experiences to Japan to create better social systems there,” he said. “Receiving this scholarship made me re-realize that what I have been doing is right, and it motivates me to pursue my dreams.”

So far, Hatano has been a lead student farmer at the UC Davis Student Farm, a wide-ranging program that offers students opportunities in plant breeding, sustainable and organic methods, field and orchard management and market orientation. He said the experience taught him practical lessons in agriculture. He also earned hands-on lessons working in rural Japan with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

During his coming senior year, Hatano will learn about agriculture in Nepal and plan a community development project there.

Related links

Learn more about, or apply for, the Knowles A. Ryerson Award, a scholarship administered by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

More about our major in international agricultural development, in the Department of Plant Sciences.

More about the Student Farm, part of the UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute, and internship opportunities there.