Education
AWARD to launch programme supporting 47 African women plant breeders – EnviroNews
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African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) is set to launch a new programme on Thursday, October 22, 2026, aimed at strengthening women’s leadership in agricultural research and ensuring that crop breeding innovations better respond to the needs of smallholder farmers across Africa.
The Gender-Responsive and Women-Led Research and Development Programme will be officially launched at the CIFOR-ICRAF Campus in Nairobi, Kenya.
The launch will feature the unveiling of 47 women plant breeders from 14 African countries who have been competitively selected for a two-year career development fellowship.
The initiative seeks to address two major challenges facing Africa’s agricultural research sector: the underrepresentation of women in plant breeding and the limited adoption of improved breeding technologies among women smallholder farmers.
According to AWARD, women remain significantly underrepresented in senior agricultural research and management positions, where decisions on research priorities, resource allocation and agricultural policies are made.
Research cited by the organisation indicates that women account for less than 15% of plant breeders in West and Central Africa.
AWARD Director, Dr. Susan Kaaria, said addressing these disparities requires strengthening women’s leadership in agricultural science while ensuring research institutions develop innovations that reflect farmers’ actual needs.
“Understanding what women and men farmers need is essential to developing agricultural innovations they can use,” Kaaria said.
She added that gender-responsive breeding must consider not only the representation and participation of women farmers in crop improvement but also who conducts the research and influences scientific decisions.
“Through this Program, we are addressing a critical priority of supporting women breeders to lead research and working with institutions and universities to ensure that farmers’ needs guide their research and the training of future scientists,” she said.
Six Research Institutions to Benefit
The programme will support six agricultural research organisations and universities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria to identify gender gaps in institutional policies and practices.
Participating institutions include the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and Mekelle University in Ethiopia; the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and Egerton University in Kenya; and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and National Root Crops Research Institute in Nigeria.
The institutions will receive support to integrate gender-responsive approaches into crop breeding research, while participating universities will review relevant curricula and teaching practices to better prepare future agricultural scientists.
47 Women Breeders Selected for Fellowship
A central component of the initiative is the Gender Responsive Research for Optimized Women-led Breeding Systems (GROW) Fellowship, which will equip 47 women breeders with leadership, resource mobilisation and organisational skills.
Over the next two years, fellows will participate in technical training, structured mentoring, networking and peer-learning activities designed to strengthen their ability to lead research and influence agricultural development priorities.
One of the selected fellows, Dr. Jane Jerono Cheserek, Chief Research Scientist at KALRO’s Coffee Research Institute, said she hoped the programme would strengthen her leadership and enable her to deliver greater benefits to farmers.
“I hope to leave the program a stronger leader, better able to guide my team, make sound decisions, and keep our research aligned with the Institute’s goals,” Cheserek said.
She added that she intended to share the knowledge gained with colleagues to improve collaboration across research programmes and contribute to lasting benefits for coffee farmers.
The programme is funded by the Gates Foundation and implemented by AWARD in partnership with Makerere University and Cornell University.
Thursday’s launch will bring together agricultural researchers, institutional representatives, development partners and selected fellows to explore how gender-responsive research can contribute to more inclusive and effective agricultural innovation across sub-Saharan Africa.
By Winston Mwale, AfricaBrief
