The African Women in Agricultural Woman in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) Steering Committee has admitted three new members including Dr. Judith Ngalande Lungu, the former deputy Vice-Chancellor, Mulungushi, and Kwame Nkrumah Universities, Dr. Arona Diedhiou, Research Director at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), and Co-principal Investigator of the Bill and Melinda Gates (BMGF)-funded Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT) project, Dr. Margaret Najjingo Mangheni.
The new members are renowned for their passion and efforts to transform the face of African agriculture in their capacity. Dr. Lungu, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), is an agriculturalist whose research focuses on animal science and has extensively new knowledge on livestock science. Dr. Lungu is also a Fellow of the inaugural cohort of AWARD Fellowship launched in 2008.
Dr. Diedhiou is a Climate Change Research Scientist whose research focuses on developing strategies to reduce the impact of climate change on the continent. He has contributed to the coordination and implementation of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses International Program (AMMA)- an international project dedicated to improving the understanding of the West African monsoon to reduce its impact on the socio-economic activities in West Africa.
Dr. Mangheni, an Associate Professor of Agricultural Extension at Makerere University, is well versed in leadership, training, and research in gender-responsive agriculture. She led the integration of gender into Makerere university agriculture curricula and the establishment of several national and regional professional networks.
Congratulations to the new members of the AWARD Steering Committee!