Vicki's Picks

Transforming Agricultural Development and Production in Africa

Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty
October 2012

Closing gender gaps and empowering rural women in policy and practice

Results of a joint programme of the Salzburg Global Seminar and the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development
13-17 November 2011

The report from this important seminar held last year has just been published, and I found the appendices on theories of change in gender and agriculture particularly interesting. AWARD Fellow  Dr. Bolanle Otegbayo and AWARD Mentor Dr. Lusike Wasilwa participated in this event, supported by AWARD and the Salzburg Global Seminar. AWARD Fellow Joy Bongyereire, founder of Biodiversity conservation for Rural Development, Kisoro, and Mentor Jemimah Njuki, former Team Leader of Poverty, Gender and Impact at  ILRI, also participated.

Equality for Quality

Curt Rice is a professor in the Department of Languages & Linguistics at the University of Tromsø in Norway and also the university's vice president for research and development. Under Rice's direction, Tromsø put in place a new initiative—the Promotion Project—to promote more women to the position of full professor. These efforts were rewarded by the Norwegian government with the national Gender Equality Prize for 2011, which consisted of 2 million kroner (about $338,500). After hearing about the Promotion Project on Rice’s blog and in a webinar, ScienceCareers asked Rice what prompted the university to try and redress the gender imbalance at the full-professor level, how successful they've been so far, and how young scientists elsewhere can benefit from the lessons learned.

Read more

Developing Leaders for Change: African Women Scientists

Improving Africa’s food security requires mobilizing leaders from every discipline, including top women agricultural researchers.

Dr. Susan Ikerra, the Executive Director of the Tanzania Fertilizer Regulatory Authority, is a great example. A recognized fertilizer expert in her country and across East Africa, Susan is looking at innovative ways to increase the use of appropriate fertilizers, helping smallholder farmers to improve their yields. Recently, she proudly participated in the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), which gathered more than 600 international leaders focused on food security. Dr. Susan Ikerra is a rare breed of leader in African agricultural research circles—she’s a woman.

Read more

Experts meet in Nairobi to shape new nutrition program for Africa

The Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC), a new Australian government initiative announced in late 2011, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), hosted a 1.5-day workshop in Nairobi in mid-September, 2012, at which time they announced a program to help deliver improved nutrition to sub-Saharan Africa. The AIFSC aims to help bridge the gaps between agricultural innovations and development in an effort to speed the adoption of those innovations to improve food and nutritional security among poor people.

Read more...

Gates Foundation Agricultural Development and Nutrition Programs Reviewed

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s agricultural development and nutrition programs were recently looked at in an effort to develop a position paper that describes why and how the Foundation’s agriculture and nutrition strategies intersect, highlighting ways that the programs can work together in the future to make complementary investments in order to improve the lives and health of families in developing countries.

Here are a few basic insights from the work of the Foundation’s partners:

Read more...