Christopher Dowswell Scholarship Fund

Women Advising Women Farmers (November 30, 2013)
By Henk Knipscheer - Senior Associate

Since the last update, the Christopher Dowswell Scholarship Fund has made significant progress. During September, five women have received notification of their scholarships awards: three in Mali, one in Ethiopia and one in
Nigeria. The awardees are Mrs. Ayele (Ethiopia), Mrs. Sy (Mali), Mrs. Koné (Mali), Mrs. Traore (Mali) and Mrs.  Bukar (Nigeria). We congratulate the successful candidates.

In early October, during the recent World Prize award ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, two significant gifts to the Christopher Dowswell Fund were announced: USD $50,000 from Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and an additional USD $20,000 from Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE). Both organizations are sponsored by the Nippon Foundation. These and other gifts have allowed us to set new and higher fund-raising targets for 2014, with the ultimate goal of reaching more women farmers.

On behalf of Winrock International and the Dowswell family, we thank all donors for their generous support.

Women advising Women Farmers (August 31, 2013)

By Henk Knipscheer - Senior Associate

Since the last update of March 31, 2013, the Christopher Dowswell Scholarship Fund has made progress on two fronts, i.e. scholarship promotion and scholarship fund raising.  Scholarships for rural female extension agents have been advertised in the three target countries, Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria. Despite the relatively short window for application, numerous applications have been received. These applications are presently being evaluated. Mid-September, successful candidates will be informed about their selection. The scholarships will be mentored in collaboration with the Sasakawa Fund for Extension Education Program (SAFE). SAFE is committed to addressing faculty gender imbalances in agricultural extension education. By targeting female candidate students, the Christopher Dowswell Scholarship Fund will help improving the gender balance in rural advisory services.

In June, Winrock was informed of the commitment by Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), of an additional USD 50,000 for the scholarships. SAA is a Nippon Foundation sponsored program (also known as Sasakawa Global 2000) that was the institutional home of Christopher Dowswell for many years. This gift will be announced during the next World Prize award ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, in October. 

On behalf of Winrock, the Dowswell family and our partners in the SAFE program, we thank all donors
for their generous support.

Stay tuned for more updates!