2017 World Food Prize Laureate to deliver Norman Borlaug Lecture on World Food Day

President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, will today deliver the Norman Borlaug Lecture as part of the World Food Prize events taking place from October 16-20, 2017 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.

The Norman Borlaug Lecture titled “Betting on Africa to Feed the World” will be held on World Food Day, October 16, in conjunction with the annual World Food Prize celebration.

The AfDB President will receive the 2017 World Food Prize on Thursday, October 19. The prize is to agriculture what the Nobel Prize is to peace, science and literature.

The World Food Prize board announced President Adesina as the 2017 Laureate in June for his work in improving the availability of seed, fertilizer and financing for African farmers, and for laying the foundation for the youth in Africa to engage in agriculture as a profitable business.

The World Food Prize, founded by Nobel Laureate, Norman Borlaug, is the foremost international honour recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty. My life mission is to lift up millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas. We must give hope and turn agriculture into a business,” the AfDB President said

As Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria, Adesina introduced the E-Wallet system, which brought transparency to fertilizer distribution system – a process previously hampered by corruption for 40 years. His policies expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 million metric tons, and the country attracted US $5.6 billion in private-sector investment, earning him tremendous respect as the ‘farmers’ Minister’.

Under his leadership, the AfDB is accelerating agricultural development through its Feed Africa Strategy with planned investment of US $24 billion over the next 10 years.

 

Source: APO

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