African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) joined other partners at the convening of the African Plant Health Initiative (APHI) on February 12-15, 2018 held in Kigali Rwanda.

APHI is a Bill and Melinda Gates (BMGF)-funded initiative that seeks to improve plant health across the alprazolam online pharmacy continent. This inaugural stakeholder convening sought to; explore approaches to identify, respond to, and mitigate plant health challenges, and to deepen existing professional connections and build new ones. The meeting also sought to create awareness about new and emerging innovations that hold potential for current and future research innovations in diagnosing and improving plant health.

AWARD is keen to contribute to APHI to pursue its mission of investing in scientists, research institutions and agribusinesses to deliver gender-responsive agricultural research and development.

The meeting was attended by 37 participants from various agricultural institutions including; Department of Research and Development (DRD)-Tanzania, National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)-Uganda, Makerere University-Uganda, Pwani University-Kenya, Rwanda Agricultural Board, Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, Cambridge University-United Kingdom, University of Greenwhich-United Kingdom, North Carolina State University-United States of America, University of Arizona, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Department for International Development (DFID), Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International ( CABI) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Other participants included representatives from West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) and other global partners. AWARD was represented by Dorothy Mukhebi, Deputy Director, Operations