Women grow the bulk of food in the developing world but their representation in agricultural institutions and at the agricultural decision-making table lags way behind that of men.
“Girls and women are society’s best chance to overcome hunger,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the presentation of the 2012 World Food Prize.
Inter Press Service reports that Mary Njenga is one woman working towards changing policies and mindsets about the role of women in food security. Currently a PhD fellow at the University of Nairobi, Njenga is working in affiliation with the World Agroforestry Centre to develop clean fuel briquettes to improve women’s income and protect their health and that of their children while conserving the environment.
Njenga is a recipient of training and mentorship through the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program which strengthens the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
Njenga is studying technologies such as environmentally-friendly, simple fuel briquettes made from charcoal dust, sawdust and other organic by-products to poor community-based groups.
On the sidelines of the presentation of the World Food Prize, the AWARD program received close to 20 million dollars in new joint funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development.
The funds will allow AWARD to launch a second five-year phase to equip more women agricultural scientists in 11 sub-Saharan African countries, in addition to the hundreds of researchers already served since 2008.
As AWARD founder, Vicki Wilde, says “In Africa we need a new generation of leaders who are innovative, visionary, entrepreneurial, well-skilled and gender-responsive, and they have to respond to the priority needs of small-holders, most of whom are women,” she said.
Read the full story: The Face of Food Security Is Female
