At the start of her university studies in 2013, Halimata Sawadogo did not imagine herself becoming a statistician. Still, training as an engineer, statistician, and economist in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, allowed her to find her path. As a daughter of farmers, the young engineer now puts her expertise at the service of rural communities by working as an Expert in Data Services with the international organization Akvo West Africa. Halimata focuses mainly on the collection and analysis of data in the fields of agriculture, environment, and water. She believes data and monitoring are important in developing effective, gender-sensitive public policies.

Adama Guèye, Economist and Gender Equality Activist, is forging her way into Senegalese agriculture. With an MSc in Economic Policy and Project Management, she started at the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research before becoming a Researcher specializing in horticulture and pesticides. Now focused on gender policies, her fight for women’s equality in agriculture led her to the AWARD Policy Fellowship, during which she hopes to develop equitable policies. She aims to fill the gaps for a stronger and fairer African agricultural sector.