The Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), Elizabeth Kisio, has called for a swift intervention to address underrepresentation of women in agriculture in Nigeria, and Africa.
Speaking with newsmen during a side event themed “Amplifying the Blind Spots: Gender Inclusion at the Centre of National Agricultural Policy,” organized on the sideline of the Gender and Inclusion Summit (GIS) 2024 in Abuja, Kisio highlighted AWARD’s mission to equip women with the skills they need to navigate successful careers in agricultural research and development.
AWARD aims to promote inclusive and sustainable agricultural growth in Africa. AWARD works to achieve this goal by supporting African scientists, research institutions, and agribusinesses in developing and disseminating innovative agricultural solutions that address the unique needs and priorities of diverse women and men across Africa’s agricultural value chains. By doing so, AWARD seeks to contribute to agriculture-driven prosperity for Africa.
Kisio noted that since its establishment in 2008, AWARD has focused on career development for women in the agricultural sector. According to her, AWARD has trained over 8,354 agricultural research for development professionals from more than 70 countries globally in various topics.
She also stressed the need to create an enabling environment for both participants and institutions to thrive.
Kisio explained that AWARD’s approach is built on three pillars: individuals, institutions, and the enabling environment.
“For individuals, we invest in capacity building. We empower individuals with skills to be able to navigate through their careers. We offer leadership skills courses, networking courses, and mentorship programs, while also providing technical skills in science to help participants conduct better research, present their work more effectively, and write stronger proposals,” she added.
She further noted that programs are tailored to address specific climatic areas and include initiatives focused on climate change adaptation, young STEM professionals, and Gender Responsive and Agriculture System Policy (GRASP).
“Today, our fellows participating in the GRASP program will be pitching their policy innovation projects. These projects involve innovative ideas, where the fellows are tasked with identifying gaps in existing policies or, if no policies exist, creating new gender-responsive ones. They are also expected to design innovative approaches to incorporate gender into existing policies or develop entirely new gender-inclusive policies.”
Kisio also suggested that the agricultural sector be made more attractive and rewarding to young people. She stressed the need to empower youth with the necessary skills.
She said: “We need to make agriculture enjoyable for the youth, particularly young women. One way to achieve this is through empowering them with skills, which is the primary focus of our fellowship programs. In that way, we are going to ensure that even the smallholder farmers are well represented in the agricultural sector, and they benefit from our programs.”