In July 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic peaked and wreaked havoc worldwide, 2018, AWARD Fellow Dr. Abla Déla Mondedji arrived in Montpelier, France, for her Advanced Science Training (AST) at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). She describes her five-month experience as enlightening.

Dr. Abla, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lomé, Togo, explains that she was enthusiastic at the opportunity to strengthen her scientific skills. She says, “despite my AST placement happening at the peak of COVID 19, I was looking forward to the new experience, a chance to learn something new to help me advance my research.” She continues to explain that although she had doubts before commencing her training, she was committed to excelling.

The AST program is a unique feature of the flagship AWARD Fellowship designed to expose Africa’s researchers to state-of-the-art technologies required to produce agricultural innovations that will have a positive, sustainable impact on agricultural research and development on the continent.

AST placements strengthen and expand the women scientists’ technical expertise in their selected area of research. For Dr. Abla, this was an opportunity for her to sharpen her scientific writing skills. Due to the strict COVID-19 protocols in Europe, she spent a part of her placement working remotely. “To make my internship more profitable in this situation of sanitary crisis, I had to do a lot of bibliographies which allowed me to publish a paper (a review) on cabbage production in West Africa in the journal Plants, “she states. She also participated in capacity-building courses led by CIRAD to help build her science writing skills.

She adds that she is putting her new skills in her research which focuses on pest management and vulnerability of agro-systems. She explains that she is taking steps to enhance farmers’ access to improved seeds and technologies essential to stimulate change and improve their livelihoods. She says, “my research findings on the use of biopesticides in agro-ecosystems to reduce pest population will give an additional value to the quality of products produced.”

Given the urgent need to increase the number of skilled women in the agricultural sector, AWARD delivers tailored training programs that enable African women to deliver more gender-responsive research and lead critical advances in science.  Since commencing her AWARD Fellowship journey, Dr. Abla has established strong scientific networks and gained more visibility in the scientific community. ” Because of the Fellowship, I was promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. After the leadership training I received during the Fellowship, I learned to be more articulate and negotiate my way up the ladder. I also published articles and abstracts which opened many opportunities for me”, she states. Dr. Abla adds that she has learned to be courageous and persistent through her AST training period, values she plans to integrate into her science writing and publishing journey.

The flagship AWARD Fellowship is a career accelerator that was established to widen the pipeline of women in agricultural leadership. Like Dr. Abla Déla Mondedj, AWARD Fellows continue to record tremendous progress in their careers, taking up leadership positions across the continent and developing innovative solutions for African smallholders. To date, 534 women have benefitted from the Fellowships.