Dear friends,

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter.
We recently launched the Gender in Agrifood Systems Policies (GASP) Program, an initiative designed to deepen our work on catalyzing the design of gender-responsive policies for equitable and resilient agrifood systems across Africa. The launch also marked the first training under the program targeting 47 mid-career African women policy professionals from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and Zambia, who undertook a week-long  Women’s Leadership and Management Course (WLMC).
As we continue our mission to contribute to plugging the leaky pipeline of women in agricultural science leadership, we welcomed 40 emerging African women into the third cohort of the AWARD Leadership Program for Emerging African Women in Agricultural Sciences. Drawn from five countries across Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi, these women have commenced their nine-month leadership journey.
We are pleased to announce a new Fellowship that seeks to enhance data-driven solutions for food security and climate change. The African Women in Data Science Fellowship targets applicants from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi.
We convened Fellows in the second cohort of Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship for an Enhancing Negotiation Skills for Women course which culminated in a Policy Hackathon, where the Fellows refined their Policy Innovation Projects (PIPs). The PIPs offer an opportunity to practice the new skills. In line with AWARD’s three-tier mentoring model that fosters intergenerational learning, we also welcomed the second Cohort of our Emerging Policy Practitioners into the GRASP Fellowship. The 47 early-career professionals have been paired with AWARD Policy Fellows from the second Cohort and have embarked on their mentoring program.
As we look forward to welcoming the second Cohort of AWARD Climate Fellows following the closing of Call for applications for our Fellowship on Accelerating African Women’s Leadership in Climate Action we want to shine a spotlight on the inaugural Cohort of Climate Fellows. Find out how our 2023 AWARD Climate Fellows Gladys Chigamba, Jackline Makokha, and Adikath Abiola are driving inclusive climate action through evidence-based policy design.
Still on our Focus on Fellows, we are pleased to present seven policy briefs published by our Policy Fellows focusing on various issues, including, gender disparities and nutrition, gender and climate-smart agriculture, extension policies, financial policies, national policies, food safety, and agrifood systems gaps.
I invite you to read our latest report presenting the outcomes and lessons from the One Planet Fellowship, highlighting its impact on scientific, leadership, and climate networks across Africa and Europe.
We continue to reflect on some of the platforms that enable us to illuminate conversations on gender and agrifood systems such as the CGIAR Science Week held in April. Together with the CGIAR GENDER Accelerator, we co-hosted a side event and a special reception focusing on women in science.
Finally, we are delighted to announce an addition to our Steering Committee, with the joining of Dr. Bassirou Bonfoh, the Director of Afrique One at Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS).

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