Beauty queen proves she's cream of the crop

A former mushroom and poultry farmer has been crowned Miss Uganda, following a major rebranding of the annual beauty pageant to promote agriculture in the east African nation.

Leah Kalanguka, 23, beat 19 other finalists after a competition that saw the glamour of the catwalk ditched for an army-sponsored boot camp on a farm, where contestants had to milk cows and work with goats and sheep.

"The youth will love agriculture because it goes hand in hand with beauty. Right now, farming is mostly done by elderly women," Kalanguka, wearing a gold dress, tiara and a sash, said during Saturday's awards ceremony.

After years of following the more traditional beauty pageant formula, organizers applied the theme of promoting agricultural entrepreneurship among the youth at the event and partnered with the Ugandan army - which has major business interests in agriculture.

"It's a great direction because the agriculture sector has great opportunities for jobs, so I'm simply grateful that it took that direction, and I would really love to see it promoted in our country because it is the backbone," Kalanguka said.

At the awards ceremony, finalists were quizzed about farming.

One contestant, Sheila, was asked: "What opportunity can family farming represent for the youth?" She replied promptly: "If you're a youth or a young child and you notice that your family is carrying out agriculture it would motivate you to go on carrying on the same thing."

Co-host Roger Mugisha, a Ugandan radio presenter, told the audience that Miss Uganda "has to represent Ugandan values".

"Agriculture is a Ugandan value and we salute that," he said.

Kalanguka, who has studied computer engineering and science at Makerere University in Kampala, where she lives, said she was "so happy" and "overwhelmed" to be crowned Miss Uganda - for which she won a small car.

"I did not expect this to happen," she said.

Organizers said the top finalists will eventually be used to market produce including potato flour, mango juice, cornflakes and honey.

(China Daily 10/27/2014 page12)