Final week for applications to USAID funded fellowship for women working in agricultural policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AWARD announces the Call for the Second Cohort of its Fellowship targeting African Women in Agricultural Policy 

The call for the second Cohort of the USAID-funded program is open to female policy practitioners from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Senegal.

https://youtu.be/mZrS0t4d8jo

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) has opened the Call for the second Cohort of its Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship to women who are citizen of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal.

An initiative of AWARD funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the highly competitive GRASP Fellowship is an immersive three-year career development program targeting mid-career African women in the policy field to catalyze the design and implementation of gender-responsive agricultural policies across Africa.

Successful applicants, known as AWARD Policy Fellows, get customized training in mentoring, leadership, negotiation skills, and gender integration in policy and agriculture.

The inaugural Cohort, announced in December 2022, comprises 49 women drawn from diverse organizations including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies across six countries.

“The GRASP Fellowship promises to prepare me to make a difference in my country by helping fishing communities to develop resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change shocks”  Carolyn Munthali, Principal Fisheries Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Malawi, 2022 AWARD Policy Fellow

Effective policies are critical if research innovations are to provide gender-inclusive, sustainable solutions for Africa to transform its agriculture and feed its growing population. The guidelines for country implementation of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) under the Malabo declaration highlight the need for agricultural policies that will facilitate stakeholder engagement and inclusive, equitable agricultural growth. Such policies require careful interrogation of the policy processes from decisions to actions.

“To develop and refine policy interventions for women and other marginalized groups involved in livestock rearing, we must better understand the roles they play in livestock production and what interventions work best to empower them.” Sylvia Harrison Ng’andu, Lecturer, University of Zambia, 2022 AWARD Policy Fellow 

The AWARD Policy Fellows are identified through a competitive selection process that includes assessing their experience and leadership potential in gender, agriculture, food systems, and policy development. The AWARD Policy Fellows will sharpen their skills to foster innovative policy-oriented projects, and lead policy processes. They will also receive catalytic funding to design and deploy innovative gender-responsive policy projects.

The Call for applications opens on February 13, 2023, and closes on May 15, 2023, at 2359 hours EAT. Application is strictly through the online portal on the AWARD website. Incomplete or late submissions will not be accepted.

Download the GRASP Fellowship brochure for more details about it and its implementation.

—ENDS —

 

Notes to editors

About the GRASP Fellowship

The Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship was announced at the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021. The Fellowship is a three-year non-residential career development program targeting African women interested in policymaking and working in agriculture and food systems. The GRASP Fellowship is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by AWARD.

 

About AWARD

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) works toward inclusive, agriculture-driven prosperity for Africa by strengthening the production and dissemination of more gender-responsive agricultural research and innovation. We invest in African scientists, research institutions, and agribusinesses so that they can deliver agricultural innovations that better respond to the needs and priorities of a diversity of women and men across Africa’s agricultural value chains.

https://awardfellowships.org/

---

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) lance l’appel à candidatures pour la seconde édition de son programme de formation sur les systèmes agricoles et politiques publiques sensibles au genre (Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy, GRASP). Le programme s’adresse aux femmes ressortissantes du Burkina Faso, Ethiopie, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda et Sénégal.

Cette initiative d’AWARD, financée par l’agence américaine pour le développement international (USAID), est un programme intense et hautement compétitif. Le programme de formation GRASP, d’une durée de trois ans, vise le renforcement des capacités des femmes africaines, professionnelles et en milieu de carrière, qui s’intéressent à l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de politiques agricoles sensibles aux questions de genre et d’inclusion sociale.

Les candidates retenues, encore appelées AWARD Policy Fellows, participeront à une série de formations sur le mentorat, le leadership, les techniques de négociation, la prise en compte de la problématique genre dans l’agriculture et les politiques publiques.

Au lancement de la première cohorte en décembre 2022, 49 femmes avaient été sélectionnées. Elles sont ressortissantes de six pays africains – Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigéria, Ouganda et Zambie – et issues de disciplines et organisations diverses, y compris, le secteur privé, les organisations non-gouvernementales, les organismes d’Etat et d’autres administrations publiques.

“Le programme de formation GRASP va me préparer à de nouveaux défis, à faire la différence dans mon pays grâce à l’appui aux communautés de pêcheurs pour développer la résilience et la capacité d’adaptation aux chocs climatiques” Carolyn Munthali, AWARD Policy Fellow 2022, est un Agent principal des pêches au Ministère de l’agriculture, Malawi.

Il est crucial de promouvoir le développement de politiques efficaces pour que la recherche et l’innovation apportent des solutions viables et durables pour la transformation de l’agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique. Les directives pour la mise en œuvre du Programme détaillé pour le développement de l’agriculture africaine (PPDAA) dans le contexte de la Déclaration de Malabo, mettent un accent sur les politiques agricoles qui facilitent l’engagement des différents acteurs tout en promouvant une croissance agricole inclusive et équitable. La formulation et la mise en œuvre de telles politiques sont fortement conditionnées par des processus décisionnels et plans d’action bien conçus.
https://zehabesha.com/final-week-for-applications-to-usaid-funded-fellowship-for-women-working-in-agricultural-policy/