“I am proud as the Governor of Iowa State to proclaim Dr. Akinwumi Adesina as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate.”
With these words, the Governor of the State of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, officially named President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, on behalf of the World Food Prize Foundation, setting off an atmosphere of festive celebration at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines.
Accompanied by Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, and John Mahama, former President of Ghana, Adesina took elegant steps to the podium to receive the award – the world’s highest recognition for food and agriculture, with his wife Grace and his two children, Rotimi and Segun, and a large and distinguished crowd cheering him on.
Representatives of the Nigerian Government, Purdue University, his alma mater, friends, associates and Bank staff were among the well-wishers who came in out in large numbers to celebrate the African agriculture icon, known as “Africa’s Norman Borlaug .”
In line with his avowed commitment to a new deal for youth empowerment, Adesina pledged to devote the $250,000 prize money to a fund in support of young African farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs, or “agripreneurs.”
“And so, even though I don’t have the cash in my hand, I hereby commit my $250,000 as a cash prize for the World Food Prize award to set up a fund fully dedicated to providing financing for the youth of Africa in agriculture to feed Africa,” Adesina said.
“We will arise and feed Africa. The day is coming very soon when all its children will be well-fed, when millions of small-holder farmers will be able to send their kids to school,” Adesina said.
“Then you will hear a new song across Africa: ‘Thank God our lives are better at last.’”
The President of the World Food Prize Foundation, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, paid tribute to Adesina, “whose breakthrough achievements have impacted millions of farmers and those living in rural poverty in Nigeria and throughout Africa, and whose leadership holds great promise for uplifting millions and millions more across that continent.”
In a speech at the colourful ceremony, the Vice-President of the United States of America, Michael Pence, commended the Laureate in a speech read on his behalf by Mark Green, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“As our global food system is stretched, and the need to feed more people grows, agricultural transformation will require persistence from leaders like you in driving change and capitalizing on public- and private-sector expertise,” Pence said.
The Vice-President described Adesina’s devotion to the cause of fighting global hunger as admirable, and deeply needed, and on behalf of President Donald Trump, extended heartfelt congratulations.
“The United States is and remains committed to food security, and we will continue to work with leaders like you to find innovative ways to end global hunger,” he said.
The Purdue University Glee Club and multiple award-winning all-female Nigerian signing group Adunni and Nefertiti set the mood of the evening with musical performances, followed by the star act: Omawumi, a popular Nigerian vocalist, who had flown in from Lagos for the occasion. The infectious rhythms of Adunni and Nefertiti and popular songs of Omawumi soon moved Adesina and his wife to get up on the dance floor, where they were joined by Obasanjo.
The evening was capped by an elegant award ceremony dinner in the Capitol Rotunda.
Under President Adesina’s leadership, the AfDB is accelerating agricultural development through its Feed Africa Strategy with planned investment of $24 billion over the next 10 years. The World Food Prize also recognizes Adesina’s work over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture of Agriculture and Rural Development.
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Earlier, Adesina attended a plenary session to launch the Global Panel on Food Systems and Nutrition policy brief, ‘Urban diets and nutrition: Trends, challenges, and opportunities for policy action’, where he highlighted the major problem associated with poor diets.
“Poor nutrition has become the number one killer in the world. It’s therefore high time to address this seriously and decisively,” he said.
He explained how many low- and middle-income countries now experience a ‘triple burden’ of malnutrition, where under-nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies co-exist with obesity and other diseases related to diets.
“We must face the reality that unhealthy foods now pose the greatest danger to the health of urban dwellers,” he stressed. “In short: Urban foods are energy rich, but nutrient poor. The changing face of urban areas aggravates malnutrition. We must address the problems of rapidly expanding slums, globally and especially, in Africa.”
The Global Panel report highlights critical areas that deserve attention in dealing with the link between urbanization and malnutrition.
“First, we need to have stricter food market regulations in urban areas, especially for informal food markets,” Adesina said. “Second, to reduce pressure on urban food systems, policies should be used to promote more sustainable peri-urban agriculture, especially for vegetables, legumes and other nutrient-rich crops. Third, better policies are needed to link rural and urban food systems, with greater investments in infrastructure, transport logistics, storage and markets, to assure steady supply of foods to cities and secondary towns.”
To cut back on rising obesity, urban areas need to invest in better education on health and nutrition, support physical activities and tax sugar drinks, he added.
The policy brief describes the challenge of providing healthy diets in urban environments, with eight evidence-based recommendations.
“The urban food crisis has become a thread we can no longer ignore,” said Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Former Director General, Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), Tom Arnold; Senior Adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Food Security Project, Emmy Simmons; and Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Liaison Office for North America, Vimlendra Sharan, stressed how decisive action is required to reduce urban malnutrition crisis.
Policy-makers at local level need to take a leading role in championing better diets and nutrition, and this requires them to be both mandated and empowered to act, the Global Panel members emphasized.
The Global Panel is an independent group of influential experts and leaders who hold or have held high office and who show strong personal commitment to improving nutrition. Formally established in August 2013 at the Nutrition for Growth Summit in London, it is jointly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development.