International Women's Day Archives

Women in leadership: Promoting an equal future

The month of March hosts several gender-based celebrations, including International Women’s Day (IWD). IITA is a gender-inclusive Institute that sees gender equality as very important in improving livelihoods in society and creating an enabling work environment for staff. Knowing that achieving this goal is improbable in unequal, marginalized, and vulnerable groups, IITA developed a policy…

CGIAR promotes enabling environment that empowers women scientists

Women scientists represent 29% of CGIAR’s workforce. These scientists, including women researchers from IITA, play an indispensable role at the forefront of CGIAR’s mission to deliver science and innovation that advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Despite the significant role women play in powering innovation, they still require…

IITA/icipe supervised PhD student celebrated among future women leaders in agriculture by UN-ECA

As the world marks International Women’s Day, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) celebrates young African women conducting research primarily in agriculture and who have made notable achievements in the field. ECA interviewed and publicized these women’s research journeys to inspire the continent and the world to do more to harness this powerful…

IITA celebrates all women on International Women’s Day

On 9 March, IITA celebrated the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020, at the Institute’s headquarters. The theme for this year’s observance was “Generation Equality: Realizing equal rights for an equal future.” IWD is a day globally recognized to celebrate the achievements of women in various fields such as social, economic, cultural and political as well as…

Dr Nteranya Sanginga delivering his keynote address at the plenary session.

IITA celebrates innovation and gender balance during 2019 International Women’s Day

Over the past few decades, the global community has made a lot of effort to inspire and engage more women and girls in science. Similar efforts are ongoing to ensure gender balance and equal access in other professional and social situations. The International Women’s Day is a worldwide movement that gives center stage to these…

SUN project participant in her maize field.

Women’s achievements celebrated

The important role of women in agricultural production is a given, with research showing that women’s contribution to farm work is as high as between 60% and 90% of the total farm tasks performed. Despite the dominant and important role women play in agricultural production, they are hardly given any attention in the area of…

Brigitte Uwimana, IITA Scientist planting a sucker.

Interview with Brigitte Uwimana, Banana Molecular Breeder

Brigitte Uwimana is IITA Banana Molecular Breeder from Rwandan based in Uganda. In this interview, she shares some of her experiences working as a researcher. Q: As an upcoming young female scientist at IITA, did you always want to do science? A: Science has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I always…

Dr Leena Tripathi, IITA Principal Scientist observing her crop yield.

One on one with Dr Leena Tripathi, IITA’s Biotech superstar!

Dr Leena Tripathi is Principal Scientist and Deputy Director for IITA Eastern Africa Hub based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also head of IITA’s Plant Transformation Research and, in this interview, reveals what makes her tick and her inspiration for being a scientist. Q: Tell us about how you were as a kid. A: (Laughing) I…

Mercy Diebiru Ojo, IITA Scientist obsesving SAH cassava ready for transplanting.

IITA: Championing the rise of a new generation of women in research

As an equal opportunity employer and champion of gender equality in the workplace, IITA has had a good number of accomplished female scientists and researchers over the years. They have paved the way for more women to engage in agricultural research. One of the younger scientists in IITA Ibadan is Cassava Seed System Assistant Specialist…