12/03/2026
Women in Agriculture Leadership Program Fellowship
Deadline: 26th April 2026, at 23:59 East Africa
The Women in Agriculture Leadership Program Fellowship is an initiative led by African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) under Africa-Australia Partnership for Climate Responsive Agriculture.
Inspired by the AWARD Fellowship model, the career development fellowship seeks to strengthen the capability, confidence and influence of African women agricultural scientists to lead and participate in climate- resilient agricultural research. The Fellowship combines leadership development, mentoring partnerships and technical excellence to enhance the Fellows’ capabilities and position them as influential actors in agrifood systems.
Program Approach
The Program takes a two-track approach that includes a career development fellowship track and an institutional strengthening track.
Through the Fellowship, the Program will directly engage up to 300 individual beneficiaries from the five target countries including two cohorts of 100 Fellows; 100 Mentors; 100 Fellow’s Mentees.
Fellowship participants will benefit from a set of activities that will combine leadership development, mentoring partnerships and technical excellence to enhance their capabilities to lead climate resilient technologies.
The institutional strengthening piece will target national agricultural research systems (NARS), for bespoke programs designed to integrate gender in institutional policies and practices for equitable climate action.
Eligibility
Be female agricultural researchers from one of the target countries.
Reside in Africa and be actively engaged in research, policy or practice relevant to climate change and Africa’s smallholder agriculture.
Have attained a minimum education level of a master’s degree in agriculture and climate change related fields of any relevant discipline from a recognized university (agriculture, agricultural economics, agricultural extension, natural resources, food science and nutrition, climate science, etc.)
Have at least seven years of work experience in agriculture, agrifood systems, gender, climate, including design or implementation at institutional, national, or regional levels.
Applicants are required to respond to the open call for applications for each Cohort as announced on the AWARD website for a specified period.
Applications are submitted through the online application portal on the AWARD website in English or French.
Target Countries
The program will be implemented in six African countries: Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Participants will include agricultural and climate researchers drawn from national agricultural research systems (NARS), ministries of agriculture (MoA), and academic institutions, ensuring strong institutional representation across the agrifood and climate research landscape.
