We launched the third Cohort of the One Planet Fellowship, which continues to attract massive demand from emerging scientists across Africa. The third Cohort consists of 41 researchers bringing the total number of Laureate Candidates in the Fellowship to 130 from 14 African countries. The One Planet Laureate Candidates participate in various learning programs to enhance their ability to conduct research focused on helping Africa’s smallholder farmers adapt to a changing climate.

The AWARD Fellows and One Planet Laureate Candidates continuously broke new frontiers in their fields. Dr. Trust Kasambala, a 2019 One Planet Fellowship Laureate Candidate from Malawi, won USD 100,000 research funding from the European Union to support her research on the fall armyworm bioecology in Malawi. A 2018 AWARD Fellow, Dr. Abla Déla Mondédji from Togo, completed her research placement at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and returned home with new skills to foster research excellence at the University of Lomé. Find out how a 2015 AWARD Fellow, Dr. Marguerite Niyibituronsa from Rwanda, continues to embody the full potential of the AWARD Fellowship through her ground-breaking research on soy beans’ potential to improve nutrition in Rwanda.AWARD country chapters

The launch of our 11^th country chapter, the Senegalese Association of Women in Agricultural Research and Development (SenAWARD), expanded our footprint in francophone West Africa. The Kenyan chapter, KeAWARD partnered with various county governments, including Laikipia and Nakuru, to train agricultural extension officers and farmers on various topics. KeAWARD also held mentoring activities in various girls’ schools across Kenya. The Ghanaian chapter, GhaWARD, held mentoring initiatives in different schools, and the Malawian government recognized the Malawi AWARD country chapter, MAWARD, as a champion of inclusive and gender-responsive agricultural value chains in the country. The Nigerian (NiWARD) and Zambian (ZaWARD) country chapters also explored collaborating to advance their intercountry agendas.Our learnings
Our report featuring AWARD Training spotlights how we improved our portfolio of training courses to enhance researchers’ capabilities and empower institutions’ leadership across Africa. How can we envision systems that fast-track women’s careers in science and support their retention? This webinar report articulates how we can sustainably address the systemic causes of the gender gap in science. Our AgSpirations Volume 1 publication featured inspiring stories of African agriculture, outlining some of AWARD’s achievements in strengthening the production and dissemination of more gender-responsive agricultural research and innovation. We co-published the “TAAT Gender Mainstreaming Guide” with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) to highlight gender mainstreaming for the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program.

Our partnerships
We partnered with the West Africa Virus Epidemiology project to launch the WAVE Women Career Accelerator (WWCA) leadership program. With support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) we launched the AWARD Leadership Program for Emerging African Women in Science for women under 35 years of age. We unveiled the CGIAR Gender Researchers’ Leadership and Mentoring Program under our partnership with the CGIAR GENDER Platform. AWARD joined the UN Women’s Generation Equality Forum co-hosted by the Mexican and French governments in Paris from June 30 to July 2, 2021. The forum mobilized multi-sector change-makers and governments to announce trailblazing gender equality investments, programs, and policies.

Shaping narratives on ARD
We launched the Agspirations by AWARD Podcast, a new series that explores how we can accelerate inclusive agricultural-driven development in Africa. The podcast amplifies voices from the field and delves into emerging global and regional trends in inclusive-agricultural research and development.

Our webinar series curated a series of conversations that fostered engagement and illuminated inspiring stories of African Agriculture.

What’s in store?
Finally, 2021 saw AWARD move into an exciting phase, guided by a refreshed strategy. The refreshed strategy reflects lessons learned from the first half of the AWARD strategy 2017-2022 and responds to our monitoring, evaluation, and learning coupled with our initiatives’ demand. Our vision remains a robust, resilient gender-responsive agricultural innovation system working toward agriculture-driven prosperity for Africa. We will continue investing in African scientists and institutions to deliver and influence innovative, sustainable, gender-responsive agricultural research and innovation.

We are enthusiastic about 2022, with the imminent launch of our newest initiative, the Gender-Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship. Under the auspices of the US government, the USAID-funded initiative seeks to catalyze policy change by women for women to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa’s food systems. We will be sharing more details about GRASP in due time. 

Thank you for being an integral part of our growth in 2021, and remember you can stay up-to-date with our latest news and opportunities by visiting our website and subscribing to our mailing list. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for real-time updates and online discussions.

We look forward to our continued partnership and wish you a safe and prosperous 2022!