African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) has launched a new programme targeting institutional barriers in agricultural science, aiming to increase women’s leadership in crop breeding and ensure new crop varieties better reflect farmers’ needs.
The Gender Responsive and Women-Led Research and Development Programme will work with six research institutions and universities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, while supporting 47 women plant breeders from 14 African countries through a two-year fellowship.
Launched at the CIFOR-ICRAF campus in Nairobi, the initiative takes a dual approach: strengthening women’s technical and leadership capacity while changing the institutional policies, research practices and university training that shape agricultural innovation.
AWARD Director Dr Susan Kaaria said supporting individual women scientists was not enough if they returned to institutions that limited their opportunities to lead or influence research priorities.
“We had these amazing women becoming leaders, but they were entering institutions that could be hostile or did not always allow them to thrive,” she said, reflecting on the organisation’s experience supporting women researchers.
The programme will therefore work with institutions to identify gender gaps in their policies and practices, develop action plans and train staff to make agricultural research more responsive to the needs of women and men farmers.
In Ethiopia, the participating institutions are the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and Mekelle University. Kenya’s partners are the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and Egerton University, while Nigeria will be represented by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and the National Root Crops Research Institute.
The universities will also review their curricula and teaching methods to prepare future agricultural scientists to incorporate gender considerations into crop breeding and research.
The institutional focus responds to persistent disparities in the sector. Women account for less than 15 per cent of plant breeders in West and Central Africa, while remaining underrepresented in senior research and management positions where research priorities and resource allocation decisions are made.
The programme’s second component, the Gender Responsive Research for Optimized Women-led Breeding Systems (GROW) Fellowship, will equip 47 women plant breeders with technical training, leadership and negotiation skills, mentoring and professional networks.
Funded by the Gates Foundation, the initiative is being implemented in partnership with Makerere University and Cornell University.
Dr Kaaria said crop improvement must consider both the needs of women farmers and the people responsible for developing new varieties if agricultural innovations are to achieve wider adoption.
The programme builds on AWARD’s experience across 26 African countries. Founded in 2008, the organisation has completed 18 fellowship cycles, graduated more than 1,200 fellows and worked with approximately 460 institutions.
For participating researchers, the initiative offers an opportunity to connect scientific excellence with stronger leadership and practical benefits for farmers. Dr Jane Jerono Cheserek, a chief research scientist at KALRO’s Coffee Research Institute and a GROW Fellow, said she hoped to strengthen her leadership and help deliver lasting benefits to coffee farmers.
Article by Jed Mwangi
Photo courtesy : Google
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