AWARD launches inaugural agricultural storytelling event

KENYA: Malawian agricultural and research scientists were among the keynote speakers at an inaugural storytelling event for agricultural researchers in Nairobi, Kenya.

The inaugural event, organised by the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), saw female African researchers captivate the audience with captivating personal stories ranging from a crop scientist's quest to control the tenacious fall armyworm in Malawi to a young researcher's connection of the relationship between fertile soils and a changing climate, all in an effort to demonstrate their perspective of working to secure a promising, prosperous future for Africa.

Among the storytellers was Malawi's Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment's James John Banda, who presented his research, which resulted in a new set of manufacturing practices within the agricultural food value chain.

“I discovered that the growing complexity of the food value chain means that risks posed by unsafe food products like fish have the potential to quickly evolve from a local problem to a national incident in a short period of time, and consumers are not aware,” he said.

He said the consumers were using outdated methods such as open drying, which results in quality loss due to cross-contamination, implying that the products were losing a lot of value.

"We improved drying technology with a solar tent dryer, a climate-smart technology that works and is governed by the convection current principle," he said.

Banda is a One Planet Fellow as well. Banda is a research scientist specializing in food science, quality management, fish, and fisheries products, and did his BSc at Mzuzu University in fish science.

The One Planet Fellowship is a $20 million initiative led by AWARD and Agropolis Foundation and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), France's BNP Paribas Foundation, the European Union, and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to support climate change adaptation research.

The fellowship aims to create a vibrant, highly connected, and intergenerational network of African and European scientist leaders capable of leading next-generation research aimed at assisting Africa's smallholder farmers in adapting to climate change.

The One Planet Fellowship announced at the 2017 One Planet Summit, is a career accelerator designed to build the capacity of high potential agricultural researchers focused on climate change adaptation by developing their leadership, scientific research, networking, and mentoring skills.

“The One Planet Laureates represent the best in Africa who share the common goals of transforming food systems in the continent and closing the gender gap within agriculture,” Dr. Susan Kaaria, AWARD Director said.

“Our objective is to have a whole cadre of capable and influential scientists leading critical innovation in agricultural research.”

Since 2008, AWARD has worked to strengthen the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science through individually tailored two-year fellowships, enabling them to contribute more effectively to alleviating poverty and increasing food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Africa has no shortage of talent. We have men and women doing groundbreaking research and we want to support them to connect, communicate and convince stakeholders that we have a role to play in developing our continent,” Dr. Kaaria said.

“The stories that have been shared this afternoon are rich. I am moved and inspired. You attest to the value of building up applied research skills to improve lives and livelihood,” Kathryn Toure, the regional Director of Canada’s International Development Research Centre said.

“I think that storytelling as a means of communicating is important. This sharing of personal stories can be truly transformative.”

The work presented at the storytelling event touched on various aspects of agricultural research such as climate change and agriculture, post-harvest management, nutrition and food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, the development of disease-resistant bean varieties, alternatives to firewood as sources of energy, safe and sustainable pest control, the application of statistical models in predicting soil properties, and the important role that women play.