This
year’s International Women’s Day theme of “Make it happen” resonates well with
the initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to promote the work of
young women rice researchers like Gaudiose Mujawamariya and Esther Leah Achandi
through the project ‘Support to Agricultural Research for Development of
Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC).’
Gaudiose
Mujawamariya and Esther Leah Achandi received the Young Rice Scientist Award at
the International Rice Congress held in Thailand, Bangkok in November 2014, for
their research on “Demystification of consumer preferences for rice in urban
areas of Dar es Salaam” and “Market participation by small holder rice farmers
in Tanzania: A double hurdle analysis”.
“These
researchers used the ‘experimental auctions approach’ to investigate how
consumers value rice quality characteristics and assess the determinants of the
‘willingness-to-pay’ for alternative quality aspects of rice,” said AfricaRice
scientist Dr Sidi Sanyang, who is coordinating the rice component of the
SARD-SC project. Gaudiose
and Esther were among 29 scientists from 19 countries who received the Young
Rice Scientist Award.
 |
| Gaudiose Mujawamariya |
Gaudiose is Rwandese. She obtained her PhD degree from
Wageningen University in 2012. Since October 2013, she has been working as a
Value Chain Economist at AfricaRice Regional Station in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. She is also a Fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research
and Development (AWARD).
“I
want to appreciate this award as really a group work effort done with my
AfricaRice colleagues Rose Fiamohe, Maimouna N’dour and Esther Leah Achandi,”
remarked Gaudiose. “In a way I can say it is an ambition of women. I want
whatever we are doing today translated to the beneficiaries, the farmers.”
The
work of Gaudiose and Esther has shown that ‘good’ rice production in terms of
quantity and quality and the existence of market and road infrastructure
enhance the participation of farmers in markets.
“My
study examined issues that affect the market participation of farmers in
Tanzania,” said Esther. “These include the ability for them to access roads,
and the presence of administrative services in the villages, as well as issues
of transport infrastructure, road networks, etc.”
 |
| Esther Leah Achandi |
Esther
is Ugandan. She is currently employed as Research Assistant at AfricaRice in
Tanzania, mainly working on gender and understanding the rice value chain. She
is also a PhD Economics student at the University of Dar es Salaam with an interest
in environmental economics and hopes to write her thesis on the impact of
climate change on rice farmers in East Africa.
Both
Gaudiose and Esther expressed their deep gratitude for the generous support by
the SARD-SC project that has enabled them to contribute to rice research for
development.
The
SARD-SC project is implemented by three Africa-based Centers that are members
of the CGIAR Consortium: AfricaRice, which coordinates the rice value chain;
the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
which coordinates the wheat value chain; and the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which coordinates the cassava and maize value
chains. IITA is also the executing agency for the project.
Listen to Gaudiose Mujawamariya talking on this occasion.
Listen to Esther Leah Achandi talking on this occasion.
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