Announcing an Unprecedented Effort to Tap the Expertise of African Women in the Agricultural Sciences

Confronting the disparity between the role of African women in farming and their limited presence in the agricultural sciences, the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program will embark on an unprecedented US$13 million initiative to help advance the careers of at least 360 African women scientists. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the initiative will reach women in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

CGIAR President Kathy Sierra announced the new effort during the opening ceremony of AGM07. "The CGIAR started the G&D Program to heighten the role of women in international agricultural research and help them advance their careers as scientists. We also wanted to ensure that the results of our work are reaching African women," she said. "This new commitment will greatly further those goals."

The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) Program is being funded with a 4-year grant. The grant represents the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's belief in the importance of engaging women at every level in agricultural development. Today, women farmers produce 60 to 80 percent of Africa's food supply. Yet, women comprise less than 20 percent of agricultural researchers.

"We cannot fight hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, unless women have a strong voice not just on the farm, but in the lab," said Vicki Wilde, Head of the Gender & Diversity Program. "It is urgent that we increase the number of African women in agricultural research. We're thrilled that the Gates Foundation is funding our work in this area."

"Women bear much of the responsibility for cultivating crops in Africa, and they face challenging and changing conditions," said Rajiv Shah, Director of Agricultural Development for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "African women scientists can help bring practical, sustainable improvements to the African farm sector, so smallholder farmers - most of whom are women - can build better lives for themselves and their families."

The AWARD Program will address many of the barriers - including a lack of role models and mentors as well as institutional biases - that in the past have prevented African women from playing a more active role in agricultural research.

"It is a plain fact that the young woman scientist continues to face a scary and tormenting situation in deciding whether she should pursue her career {as a scientist} or maintain her family," said Miriam G Kinyua, Associate Professor of Agriculture at Kenya's Moi University. "I believe it should not be so. I believe that with the right balance, she can succeed in both."

While other programs provide academic support, AWARD is different. AWARD nourishes the African talent pool with acareer development seriesdesigned to strengthen both science and leadership skills of women in agricultural research at three critical career junctures - upon completion of their BSc, MSc and PhD degrees.

Specifically, the program seeks to achieve a:

• 25 percent increase in African women with BSc degrees participating as members of research teams in at least 20 agricultural institutions in sub-Saharan Africa;
• 50 percent increase in African women with masters degrees managing research teams and producing improved farm technologies at these institutions;
• 50 percent increase in African women PhDs serving in influential leadership roles and as role models and mentors to younger women;
• Significant increase in the number of African girls and young women inspired to pursue careers in agricultural research and development; and
• Significant increase in the number of men and women aware of the importance of women's voices and contributions to agriculture in Africa.

Many of the strategies to be employed in the AWARD initiative were first developed in two smaller, pilot programs administered by the Gender & Diversity Program in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. Launched in 2005, these efforts have provided career-boosting support for 75 women agricultural researchers in Africa. But there is a clear need for expansion, as qualified applicants for the fellowships have far exceeded available positions.

One lesson from the pilot programs is that mentoring is critical to cultivating a strong cadre of women scientists. Each fellow selected to participate in the AWARD initiative will be assigned a senior scientist to serve as her mentor to guide her research and training. During the second year of her fellowship, each AWARD woman, in turn, will mentor a more junior woman from her organization.

"I strongly feel this mentoring program has a multiplier effect, and its impacts are definitely changing lives and specifically the lives of women," said Jenipher Bisikwa, a Ugandan participant in one of the pilot fellowship programs. "The Gender & Diversity Program is a nurturing powerhouse."

The mentoring program also is intended to get men involved. While they are not eligible for AWARD fellowships, men are being encouraged to become mentors. In exchange, they will be offered the opportunity to participate in special AWARD events, such as courses that teach leadership skills, science writing and proposal writing.

Fellows will also have access to a range of resources - including an electronic science library - to ensure they have maximum opportunity to make a long-term commitment to agricultural research. Today, the proportion of women studying in the agricultural sciences in Africa steadily declines as students move from undergraduate to masters and PhD programs. To counter this "leaky pipeline" problem, the AWARD program is providing a variety of resources to encourage women to stick with their research pursuits.

For example, each fellow gets subscriptions to online science journals and, as they get their research papers published, the funds to attend and present at scientific conferences. Fellows also will be offered internships in a variety of research settings, including the CGIAR Centers and a number of universities in Africa.