NAIROBI, KENYA (OCTOBER 18, 2012)—African Women in Agricultural Research
and Development (AWARD) today announced that its program, which develops
the research and leadership skills of top women agricultural scientists in
Africa, has received new joint funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation (US$14 million) and the United States Agency for International
Development (up to US$5 million). This support will allow AWARD to launch a
second five-year phase to equip more women agricultural scientists in 11
sub-Saharan African countries, in addition to the hundreds of researchers
already served since 2008 in the program’s first phase.
An estimated 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are hungry, according
to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This week,
at the World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa, global leaders are
discussing strategies to boost food production worldwide. Ensuring food
security in Africa is particularly challenging, and will require mobilizing
the continent’s best scientific minds, including those of African women.
However, although the majority of those who produce, process and market
Africa’s food are women, only one in four agricultural researchers is
female, according to a 2008 benchmarking study conducted by AWARD. Even
fewer—one in seven—hold leadership positions in African agricultural
research institutions. Africa’s current leadership in agriculture and
development is small in number, mostly male, and on the verge of
retirement, with few experienced professionals equipped to succeed them.
“Cultivating a new generation of African leaders in food and agriculture is
strategically important,” said Vicki Wilde, AWARD director. “That
leadership will be all the more effective when women are highly
represented, especially by those technically competent and strategically
positioned to generate and promote the innovations needed by rural women,
and other smallholder farmers.”
AWARD believes that effective solutions for African agriculture will come
through empowered women scientists. “The Gates Foundation and USAID
understand the critical role of women, both farmers and researchers, as a
non-negotiable component of their strategies for agricultural R&D in
Africa. “AWARD shares this vision and is very proud to be an implementing
partner,” said Wilde.
“We are thrilled to be extending our support for AWARD,” said Dr. Roy
Steiner, deputy director of agricultural development at the Gates
Foundation. “This program, and the fellows involved, help ensure that women
are at the heart of agricultural development, advancing research and
innovation to reduce hunger and poverty.”
The demand for AWARD is clear: more than 2,000 women have applied for the
250 fellowships available since the program began in 2008, and over 1,000
applicants are competing for 70 places in the next round of fellowships,
which will be announced in December 2012.
As an AWARD Fellow, Professor Sheila Okoth of the University of Nairobi
says her research on solutions to combat the aflatoxin contamination of
farm produce in Kenya advanced significantly. “I changed tremendously
following the training and exposure I had through AWARD,” said Okoth. “I am
even more determined to help solve the aflatoxin problem that makes poor
farmers even poorer.” She established the university’s first post-graduate
mycology research lab, inspired by her three-month advanced science
training at Stellenbosch University, which was sponsored by USAID through
AWARD. “I’m pleased that AWARD has the funding needed to empower even more
African women researchers. It’s making a difference,” said Okoth.
– Preliminary data collected from the first 180 AWARD alumnae revealed
that:
137 different agricultural technologies and products are being developed
by these women in their respective research institutions
– at least 57 percent refocused their research to be more gender
responsive or more relevant to the needs of women farmers
– one in two increased their average annual publication rate in
peer-reviewed journals
– 52 percent were promoted, indicative of their growing influence
“It’s clear that AWARD is a game-changer,” said Wilde. “The new funding
received today means even more African women will be empowered to be in the
forefront of innovative gender-responsive agricultural R&D, where it is
needed most.”
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*About AWARD*
AWARD is a career development program that strengthens the research and
leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them
to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in
sub-Saharan Africa. AWARD offers two-year fellowships focused on mentoring
partnerships, science skills and leadership development. African women
working in agricultural research for development from Ethiopia, Ghana,
Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and
Zambia who have completed a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in
selected disciplines are eligible.
AWARD is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United
States Agency for International Development, and is a preferred service
provider of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR). It is hosted by the CGIAR’s World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi,
Kenya. For more information, please visit www.awardfellowships.org.
In 2008, AWARD partnered with the Agricultural Science and Technology
Indicators (ASTI) initiative to conduct a benchmarking survey of 125
agricultural research and higher education agencies in 15 sub-Saharan
African countries. Their report, *Female Participation in African
Agricultural Research and Higher Education: New Insights*, is available at
www.asti.cgiar.org/gender-capacity, along with a series of country fact
sheets.