AWARD Leadership Program for Emerging African Women in Agricultural Sciences
African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), hosted by CIFOR-ICRAF
Nine-month, non-residential leadership, mentoring and science-communication programme for up to 40 African women under 35 in agricultural sciences (biophysical or social) from selected countries incl. Ghana. The 2026-cohort call (Sept 2025) is closed; watch for the next one.
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Eligibility
- Who can apply
- Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and 9 more
- Education required
- Bachelors completed
- Age
- up to 34 (Under 35 years of age)
- Open to
- Women only
- Fields
- Agriculture
- Residency
- Targeted at women working in agricultural science in the listed countries (2026 call: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia; programme page also lists Mali, Togo, Uganda)
- Also required
- African woman under 35 working in a biophysical or social-science agricultural discipline (government, NGO, academia, research, civil society or private sector)
- Minimum of a BSc degree from a recognised university
- Commitment to complete the nine-month non-residential programme and engage with an assigned mentor
- Country list and detailed criteria vary by call - read the guidelines PDF published with each call
About this opportunity
AWARD (African Women in Agricultural Research and Development), hosted by CIFOR-ICRAF in Nairobi, has supported African women agricultural scientists since 2008. Its current early-career flagship is the AWARD Leadership Program for Emerging African Women in Agricultural Sciences: a nine-month, non-residential programme investing in up to 40 competitively selected women under 35 from biophysical and social-science agricultural disciplines in any sector. Participants and their mentors are trained in leadership, career planning and networking, personal branding, team management and science communication, and receive a certificate.
The 2026-cohort call targeted Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia; the programme page also lists Mali, Togo and Uganda and requires at least a BSc.
- Level
- Early career
- Where
- Online
- Duration
- 9 months, non-residential
- Number of awards
- Up to 40 per cohort
- Difficulty
- Medium · about 3 weeks to prepare
Funding
Fully funded
- training
Fully sponsored leadership, mentoring and communication training with a certificate of completion; no stipend or research grant is described on the call page.
What you will need
Check the official page for the document list.
Applications are made strictly via the online portal on the AWARD website following the guidelines PDF issued with each call; the document checklist is not published on the programme page.
Track this application and eStudent360 turns the list into a checklist and, with Plus, a dated plan that works back from the deadline.