Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators
Gender-disaggregated information on human resources is crucial to monitor participation of women and men at different seniority levels, sectors, and scientific fields. But this type of information is scarce, especially for developing countries. One of the few sources of information is the ASTI initiative that, as part of its overall data collection activities on agricultural R&D investments and human resources trends, has collected information on female and total agricultural research staff in developing countries.
IFPRI’s Agricultural Science & Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative and the CGIAR’s Gender and Diversity (G&D) Program are jointly conducting a benchmarking survey to fill the gap in gender-disaggregated data on the staffing of African agricultural R&D. agencies in 20 sub-Saharan African countries. The survey will not only provide gender-disaggregated data of agricultural scientists by highest degree and institute type, but will also address many other important questions such as the discipline mix of female and male scientists, the exact share of female graduates that drop out after completing their degree or during their career as a scientist, how many female scientists reach leadership positions relative to their male colleagues, and so on.
The survey outcomes will provide valuable human resource information to leaders of African research institutions, regional networks, international organizations, policymakers, and donors. The outcomes of this survey will also be an important input into evaluating the impacts of the recently initiated African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellowship program. The AWARD program, funded through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is coordinated by the G&D program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Competitive two-year fellowships will be offered to high-performing African women scientists at three critical career junctures—upon completion of their BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees—focusing on building mentoring, science, and leadership capacity. For more information see the AWARD fact sheet (PDF 126K) and the G&D website.
This AWARD benchmarking survey is conducted through the ASTI initiative. The initiative compiles, processes, analyzes, and reports data on institutional developments, investments and human resources in agricultural R&D in developing countries. The ASTI initiative is widely recognized as the most authoritative source of information on the support for and structure of agricultural R&D worldwide. The initiative is managed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and involves collaborative alliances with many national and regional R&D agencies as well as international institutions. For more information see the ASTI website.
Beintema, N.M. Participation of Female Agricultural Scientists in Developing Countries. Brief prepared for the meeting, Women in Science: Meeting the Challenge, an adjunct to the CGIAR Annual General Meeting, Washington, D.C., December 4, 2006.
(PDF 168K)
Stads, G.J. and N.M. Beintema. Women Scientists In Sub-Saharan African Agricultural R&D. Brief prepared for the USAID meeting on "Women in Science: Meeting the Challenge. Lessons for Agricultural Sciences in Africa", Washington, D.C., June 21, 2006.
(PDF 180K)