Search Results

African women in agriculture are suffering disproportionately as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens existing structural economic, social and technological inequalities, a new survey shows. Female farmers on the continent are struggling to perform their multiple roles in society during the pandemic and specific policy measures are required to accelerate the recovery…

As we celebrate International Women's Day, it's important to note the critical contributions of women to farming and agricultural science around the world.

[ Peter Kalanzi/AfS]How wonderful to have a day to celebrate being a woman and to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for achieving gender equality. This year, I want to take a moment to focus attention on seven extraordinary women who are driving environmental action and whom I have the…

Millicent Agutu was an engineer at Safaricom, the Kenyan mobile network service provider, in various capacities for 11 years. Engineer Agutu says her journey to studying engineering started out of curiosity after she transferred from a girls’ only secondary school to a mixed-sex one in Third Form. “Girls…

In January 2021, a devastating cyclone hit Mozambique and flooded Berta Inácio Ngove’s field, burying a promising crop of maize and beans in a watery tomb. “It was bad,” recalls Ngove, a 52-year-old widow and mother of four children. “We did not harvest anything.” But cyclones aren’t the only extreme…

Davies Korboe always wanted to become a farmer. As a young man growing up in the suburbs of Accra, Ghana, he owned a small garden adjacent his home where he planted fruits, maize and a wide variety of fast-maturing vegetables. So, it wasn’t surprising that Korboe chose to cultivate a…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Asian agriculture has a chance to become more inclusive — if certain development paradigms are realized. Approximately 60 percent of South Asia’s 1.8 billion citizens are involved in agriculture. Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan and other countries depend heavily on the agricultural sector for…

Women researchers are strongly influencing the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in Africa. “As African women, we are the ones who suffer most whenever drought and food shortages strike, despite the availability of technological solutions to these problems,” said Dr. Felister Makini, deputy director general in charge of crops at the…

Seeing climate activist Greta Thunburg on the cover of Time magazine — the youngest person ever named its “person of the year” — reminded me of the courageous enthusiasm that defines the burgeoning youth movement in the global agricultural sector. In just this past year I’ve had the pleasure to…