Gates Foundation funds $13 million CGIAR program to train African women agricultural researchers

There is a disparity between the role of African women in farming and their limited presence in the agriculture sciences. To confront it, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Gender & Diversity Program has launched a $13 million effort that will support the fast-tracking of careers of at least 360 African women in agricultural research.

The Nairobi-based African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program is being funded with a four-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Participating countries include Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Women farmers produce 60 to 80 percent of crops critical to feeding the people of Africa. Yet women comprise less than 20 percent of agricultural researchers.

“We cannot fight hunger and poverty in Africa, particularly in the struggling regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, unless women have a strong voice not just on the farm, but in the lab,” said Vicki Wilde, head of the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program. “It is urgent that we increase the number of African women in agricultural research. We are 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, and 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 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. The program nourishes the African talent pool with a career development series designed 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.

CGIAR