On 7th March, please join A4I, AWARD and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development at a joint parliamentary briefing on empowering African women scientists.

Empowering women

African women farmers and agricultural scientists make essential contributions to agriculture and can do so much more to help drive agricultural growth and tackle hunger in SSA—but they must be fully engaged.

If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent, raising agricultural output and reducing the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent.

On International Women’s Day, we commend the UK government for their investment in agricultural development research in developing countries, and urge them to strengthen their ability to reach women through this work. We invite them to partner with and encourage other governments, and the private sector to increase their support and to ensure that women are prioritized in agricultural development strategies and programmes.

On this basis, A4I, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development are hosting a parliamentary briefing which will focus on finding solutions on how to empower African women scientists. 

Speakers

Heidi Alexander MP, Moderator  

Dr Camilla Toulmin, Director, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Dr Sheila Ommeh, AWARD Fellow/Geneticist, Biosciences eastern and central Africa, International Livestock  Research Institute, Kenya

Christine Mukantwali, AWARD Fellow/Senior Scientist, Post-harvest Research Activities, Rwanda Agriculture Board  

Vicki Wilde, Director, AWARD

Monique Mikhail, Sustainable Agriculture Policy Advisor, OXFAM GB  

Joseph Cerrell, Director, European Office, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Professor Sir Gordon Conway, Agriculture for Impact, Imperial College London

Event details 

The invitation can be found here

When: 7th March 2012 from 12:30-2:00pm

Where: Committee Room 10, Houses of Parliament

To secure a place, RSVP no later than Monday 5th March to Jo Seed (j.seed@imperial.ac.uk). 

Additional event - Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI).

You might also be interested to hear about a separate event taking place from 10:00-11:30am on the 7^th March entitled Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI).  The innovative index measures the empowerment and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector. It has been developed in partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development warmly invite you to briefing ahead of International Women’s Day on the first ever

Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI).

Developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford, the innovative new index marks a breakthrough in the measurement of the empowerment and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector.

Wednesday 7^th March 2012

10:00-11:30am

Committee Room 10, Houses of Parliament, London, UK

Speakers

Dr. Meredith Soule, Team Leader for West Africa, USAID

Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director, OPHI

Dr. Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

The index shows that:

• In southern Bangladesh, more than half of women are less empowered than the man they share their house with, and yet are usually more confident speaking in public
• In the Western Highlands of Guatemala, wealth is a poor indicator of empowerment - on average three quarters of women in the wealthiest two thirds of the population are not-yet empowered
• In rural parts of Uganda, lack of control over resources and time burdens contribute most to the disempowerment of women

To attend, please RSVP to Joanne Tomkinson, Research Communications Officer, OPHI

Email: joanne.tomkinson@qeh.ox.ac.uk Tel: 01865 271528

The US Government will use the WEAI for performance monitoring and impact evaluations across 19 focus countries as part of their Feed the Future global hunger and food security initiative. Uses of the index for measuring, monitoring and evaluating empowerment will be covered at the event.

The WEAI will be formally launched at the UN Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York on 28th February 2012 by Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, USAID with Dr. Sabina Alkire, OPHI Director and Dr. Agnes Quisumbing, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI. The Parliament event on 7^th March is designed to introduce senior UK policymakers, academics, development practitioners and media commentators to the index and its potential for informing new approaches to boosting empowerment and improving food security.