World Cocoa Foundation Research Update: December 2007
FROM INGENIC: December 6, 2007. Gates Foundation funds unprecedented $13 million effort to unleash expertise of African women in the agricultural sciences. New program to fast track the careers of African women scientists seeks to fix "leaky pipeline" of women agricultural researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa. NAIROBI, Kenya - Confronting the disparity between the role of African women in farming and their limited presence in the agriculture sciences, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Gender & Diversity Program today launched an unprecedented $13 million effort that will support the fast-tracking of careers of at least 360 African women in agricultural research. Participating countries include Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The Nairobi-based African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program is being funded with a four-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant represents the Foundation's belief in the importance of engaging women at every level in agricultural development. Today, women farmers produce 60 to 80 percent of crops critical to feeding the people of Africa. Yet women comprise less than 20 percent of agricultural researchers.
"We cannot fight hunger and poverty in Africa, particularly in the struggling regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, unless women have a strong voice not just on the farm, but in the lab," said Vicki Wilde, head of the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program, at the CGIAR Annual General Meeting in Beijing where the grant was announced. "It is urgent that we increase the number of African women in agricultural research. We are thrilled that the Gates Foundation is funding our work in this area."
"Women bear much of the responsibility for cultivating crops in Africa and they face challenging and changing conditions," said Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "African women scientists can help bring practical, sustainable improvements to the African farm sector so smallholder farmers - most of whom are women - can build better lives for themselves and their families."
The AWARD program will address many of the barriers—including a lack of role models and mentors, and institutional biases—that in the past have prevented African women from playing a more active role in agricultural research. "It is a plain fact that the young woman scientist continues to face a scary and tormenting situation in deciding whether she should pursue her career {as a scientist} or maintain her family," said Miriam G. Kinyua, Associate Professor of Agriculture at Moi University. "I believe it should not be so. I believe that with the right balance, she can succeed in both."
While other programs provide academic support, AWARD is different. The program nourishes the African talent pool with a career development series designed to strengthen both science and leadership skills of women in agricultural research at three critical career junctures – upon completion of their BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees.
Specifically, the program seeks to achieve a:
* 25 percent increase in African women with BSc degrees participating as members of research teams in at least 20 agricultural institutions in sub-Saharan Africa
* 50 percent increase in African women with masters degrees managing research teams and producing improved farm technologies at these institutions;
* 50 percent increase in African women PhDs serving in influential leadership roles and as role models and mentors to younger women;
* Significant increase in the number of African girls and young women inspired to pursue careers in agricultural research and development; and
*Significant increase in the number of men and women aware of the importance of women's voices and contributions to agriculture in Africa. See INGENIC at: guiltinanlab.cas.psu.edu/Ingenic/index.htm
SUSTAINABLE TREE CROPS (STCP): From: Cynthia Prah, (IITA) C.Prah@cgiar.org. Accra, Ghana – The Ghana and the European Commission signed two financing agreements totalling eight million Euros to support programmes in the Cocoa sector and the Ghana Police Service. Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Mr Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, head of the European Commission in Ghana signed the agreements. Under the deal, an amount of five million Euros will be used to execute programmes to improve the livelihood of smallholder cocoa farmers and to ensure sustainability of cocoa production in the country. The state-owned Ghana Cocoa Board would implement the first component aimed at improving farmer's access to high quality hybrid planting material. The second and third components would be implemented by the Sustainable Tree Crops Programme, a consortium bringing together chocolate industry, producers, researchers, government agencies and conservation people. It will involve intensified extension services to cocoa farmers through participatory training, methods and tools, address the environmental and social impacts of cocoa production and support the replanting of hybrid cocoa varieties in former cocoa growing areas. Cocoa is Ghana's main foreign exchange earner. Mr Baah-Wiredu said the cocoa project would address the environmental and social impacts of cocoa production, strengthen the management capacities of existing and emerging cocoa farmers and community-based organisations. Mr Sebregondi said the support in the cocoa sector would help reduce income vulnerability and thereby improve livelihoods in line with Ghana's will to improve competitiveness, foster growth and become middle-income country. Accra - 23/11/2007 Panapress
Also, The STCP Working Paper Series Issue No. 3 is available and posted on the STCP website. All working papers are available for download from the STCP website.
The following is the full reference of the paper and the link:
Weinbaum K. et al. (2007) Wildlife Diversity in Cocoa/Agricultural Mosaics at the Congo Basin Forest Margin. STCP Working Paper Series 3 (Version: December 2007). International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
NEW PUBLICATIONS: From Randy Ploetz kelly12@ufl.edu. A new publication on diseases of cacao, “Cacao disease: Important threats to chocolate production worldwide,” has been published by APS Press. Diseases are the most important constraints to cacao production and the continued viability of the world’s confectionary trades. A symposium on these problems was held 30 July 2006 in Quebec City, Canada, during the 2006 joint annual meetings of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), the Mycological Society of America, and the Canadian Phytopathological Society. The following papers resulted from presentations that were given during the session. They summarize recent research on the biology, origins, pathology and phylogeny of the pathogens, as well as resistance to, and the biological and chemical management of, the most serious and threatening diseases. Randy Ploetz (University of Florida) and Cathie Aime (Louisiana State University, formerly USDA, Beltsville, MD) convened the session. Financial support from Mars, Incorporated and APS is gratefully acknowledged, and Bob Gilbertson, Editor-in-Chief of Phytopathology, is thanked for supporting the publication of these papers and editorial guidance. See Symposium papers below and on the WCF web site
From Götz Schroth, New Book: Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Landscapes. Edited by: Schroth, G., daFonseca, G.A.B.; Harvey, C.A.; Gascon, C.; Vasconcelos, H.L., Izac, A.-M. N. 2007. Island Press, Washington, Covelo, London. For more information or to order contact Dr. Götz Schroth, Senior Advisor, Land Use Strategies, Conservation International,2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500. Arlington, VA 22202, USA. Phone: (703) 341-2508. E-mail: g.schroth@conservation.org. See review article by, Ruf, F. and Schroth, G. below.