Africa Women in Agricultural Research (AWARD)
AWARD envisions transformative change toward gender-responsive solutions to catalyze lasting impact for equitable agri-food systems for women and men smallholders. AWARD invests in women’s leadership to foster equality in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D), equipping AR4D professionals to integrate gender in their work, strengthening institutions to adopt gender-responsive policies and practices, and impacting the enabling environment to enhance gender responsiveness.
In 2017, as part of its strategic expansion, AWARD developed and launched a strategy designed to build gender-responsive AR4D. The 2017 – 2022 strategy set the institution toward inclusive, agriculture-driven prosperity for the African continent by strengthening the production and dissemination of more gender-responsive agricultural research and innovation. In 2019, ECI-Africa supported AWARD to do a Strategy Refresh. This mid-term strategy review was prompted by emerging challenges and new opportunities that called for strategic rethinking of the organization’s plans.
In 2023, ECI-Africa supported AWARD to develop its next five-year strategic plan for 2023–2027. This process included a series of consultations with key stakeholders followed by a Theory of Change Workshop on 4th April 2023 AWARD’s internal team. A Validation Meeting was held on 2nd May to solicit key stakeholders’ feedback on the findings of the assessment as well as suggested interventions for the identified gaps for the strengthening the content of the strategy and its operationalization. The new AWARD Strategy is now in place.
