She Leads African Food Futures (SHEAF) Fellowship

The She Leads African Food Futures (SHEAF) Fellowship seeks to build a vibrant, highly connected network
of African women professionals from diverse disciplines to drive policy and programmatic change for
equitable agri-food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The two-year Fellowship will integrate leadership
development, mentorship and network development, and technical excellence to produce a network of
African women committed and equipped to lead and drive gender-responsive agrifood systems programs
and policies.

The program seeks to drive equitable agricultural transformation through innovative, gender-responsive
solutions in four broad areas:

✓ Strengthen leadership skills of African women inagri-food systems.
✓ Foster impactful mentoring relationships that willextend beyond the project’s duration and supportlong-term collaboration and growth.
✓ Build the technical capacities of the participants tointegrate gender in agri-food systems.
✓ Establish a network of emerging women leaders andagri-food professionals working to drive gender
responsive agricultural policies and programs

The She Leads African Food Futures (SHEAF) Fellowship is open to African women
who meet the criteria below:
✓ Citizens of one of the following countries: Kenya, Malawi, and Senegal;
✓ Holds at least a master’s degree in a relevant discipline in agrifood systems;
✓ Have at least 5 years of professional experience in agrifood systems related
areas;
✓ Demonstrated interest and contribution to addressing gender issues in
agrifood systems;
✓ Employed in national and international organizations in agrifood systems,including the private sector, civil society, non-governmental organizations,farmers’ organizations, government ministries and agencies, regional and subregional organizations, or academia;
✓ Demonstrated intermediate proficiency in English (reading, writing, and
speaking);
✓ Be committed to full participation in the 18-month program, including onlineand in-person activities;
✓ Resident in Africa, specifically in the listed countries (Kenya, Malawi, andSenegal) for the entire duration of the Fellowship;
✓ Not a Fellow of any other programs offered by AWARD.

The ideal SHEAF Fellows will:
✓ Show how they have played a leadership role in agrifood systems policy
development, program design, and implementation, particularly in projects at
the nexus of agricultural development, food systems, and gender equality;
✓ Convincingly explain ongoing programs and policy challenges or questions
they are currently working on.
✓ Not use artificial intelligence (AI) to fill out the application form

✓ The Fellows will participate in an immersive, non-residential program that incorporates a blended approach of
virtual and face-to-face activities, including individual and collaborative sessions designed to enhance their
experience and expertise while fostering cross-learning. The activities will include;

Mentorship and Network Development
✓ Structured eight-week Mentoring Orientation Workshop where they will be paired with seasoned mentors.
✓ Monthly mentoring meetings between Fellows and mentors, coupled with one-on-one tailored coaching
sessions.
✓ Peer learning sessions to foster cross learning and deepen participants’ understanding.
✓ Curated policy dialogues and participatory discussions on equitable agri-food systems in Africa.
✓ She Leads African Food Futures (SHEAF) is an initiative of African Women in Agricultural Research and
✓ Development (AWARD) funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
✓ The Fellows will participate in an immersive, non-residential program that incorporates a blended approach of
virtual and face-to-face activities, including individual and collaborative sessions designed to enhance their
experience and expertise while fostering cross-learning. The activities will include;

Leadership Development
✓ Five-day face-to-face Women’s Leadership and Management Course focused on professional psychometric
assessments and case studies to enhance communication, confidence building, leadership, and influence.
✓ Fellows will be supported to establish individual or joint role modelling activities that will enable them to
apply and disseminate lessons from their leadership training.

Technical Excellence
✓ Enhancing Fellows' technical expertise in integrating gender in agriculture programs and policies through a
virtual gender in agrifood systems course and development of gender analyses and action plans.
✓ Participate in in-country knowledge forums and networking activities geared towards forging collaborative
partnerships among the Fellows.
✓ Convening Fellows and other stakeholders to connect, learn, and share in global and regional platforms,
diversifying the voices represented in agrifood systems debates across Africa.