*AWARD announces winners of 2011 fellowships
70 top African women agricultural scientists from 11 countries chosen *
*
*NAIROBI, KENYA (AUGUST 18, 2011)—As discussions of drought and famine in
the Horn of Africa continue to dominate global headlines, it is clear that
ensuring the continent’s food security will require mobilizing the best
minds from every discipline, including women agricultural researchers.
African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) is committed
to building the capacity of African women scientists who are conducting
pro-poor agricultural research.
Today AWARD announced the 70 winners of its 2011 AWARD Fellowships. These
outstanding researchers were selected from among an impressive cadre of 785
applicants from 11 African countries, bringing the total number of women in
the program to 250.
“These talented women are conducting critical agricultural research that is
desperately needed to feed Africa’s people and help mitigate crises like we
are seeing in East Africa right now,” said Vicki Wilde, AWARD Director. “We
are recognizing and supporting these women today with an AWARD Fellowship.”
The fellowship will help these top scientists strengthen their research and
leadership skills, and enhance their contributions to poverty alleviation
and food security across the continent. While the women come from diverse
agricultural disciplines, they share a common passion to help smallholder
farmers.
“My parents paid for my primary education by selling a cow or a goat, so I
know from experience that livestock is the cornerstone of people’s
livelihoods in rural Africa,” said Dr. Lillian Wambua, a molecular
geneticist at the University of Nairobi’s School of Biological Sciences and
one of this year’s AWARD winners. “Diseases are the greatest challenges to
livestock farmers. As an AWARD Fellow and upcoming researcher, my goal is to
use my scientific skills to engage with like-minded researchers in finding
lasting solutions to secure healthy herds.”
Wambua is one of 2,200 female scientists from 450 institutions to have
applied for one of the 250 available fellowships since AWARD began in 2008.
AWARD Fellows benefit from a two-year career-development program focused on
mentoring partnerships, science skills, and leadership development. The
fellowships are awarded on the basis of intellectual merit, leadership
capacity, and the potential of the scientist’s research to improve the daily
lives of smallholder farmers, especially women.
“USAID is pleased to support African women scientists via AWARD, as an
integral component of the U.S. government’s commitment to reducing gender
inequality and recognizing the contribution of women to achieving food
security,” said Kurt Low, Office Director for the Regional Economic Growth
and Integration Program at USAID/East Africa. “By drawing on some of the
best minds in agricultural research, AWARD provides a shining example of the
contributions that women can make to poverty alleviation and food security
in sub-Saharan Africa.”
AWARD addresses many of the barriers, including a lack of role models and
mentors, which prevent African women from playing a more active role in
agricultural research and from considering a career in agricultural science.
Recent research conducted in 15 African countries by AWARD and Agricultural
Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) shows that between 2000 and 2008,
the number of African women professionals employed in the agricultural
sciences grew by 8 percent per year, while the number of African male
professionals grew by 2 percent per year. However, women still represent
less than one quarter of Africa’s scientists holding positions in
institutions of agricultural research, and less than one in seven (14
percent) leadership positions is held by a woman.
Catherine Sakala is one of three Tanzanians to win the prestigious
fellowship. Sakala, a tsetse control biologist with the Ministry of
Livestock and Fisheries Development, expects that the skills she gains
through AWARD will help advance her research work. “Trypanosomiasis is
considered to be one of the most important constraints to rural development
in Africa, and Zambia is no exception,” said Sakala. “I’m involved in trying
to prevent the disease through the most environmentally friendly methods
available. As an AWARD Fellow, I look forward to meeting other researchers
in this area.”
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*About AWARD
*AWARD is a professional 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 R&D 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.
A project of the CGIAR’s Gender & Diversity Program, AWARD is supported by
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. For more information, please
visit www.awardfellowships.org
In 2008, AWARD partnered with ASTI 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 <
http://www.asti.cgiar.org/gender-capacity> , along with a series of country
fact sheets.
*About the CGIAR
*The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR),
established in 1971, is a strategic partnership of countries, international
and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting the work of
15 international agricultural research centers. In collaboration with
national agricultural research systems, civil society, and the private
sector, the CGIAR fosters sustainable agricultural growth through
high-quality science aimed at benefiting the poor through stronger food
security, better human nutrition and health, higher incomes, and improved
management of natural resources. For more information, please visit
www.cgiar.org