Photo: R. Zurba/USAID

In South Africa, 28 per cent of science academy members were women in 2010, while in most other countries women represented less than 12 per cent of science academy members (file photo).

Nairobi — 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.”

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.

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 gender-capacity, along with a series of country fact sheets.