Aside showcasing young talents and aspiring entrepreneurs, we also appreciate individuals who display tremendous degrees of excellence in their field of choice, hence our reason for celebrating Nigeria’s Ex- minister of agriculture who just got recognized by the president for the 2017 world food prize he just recieved.
Adewunmi Adesina who was the minister of Agriculture in during former Goodluck Jonathan’s regime has indeed put in much efforts towards improving Nigeria’s agricultural system greatly, and reduced the rated of starvation in the country.
Adesina, whose name was announced on Monday June 26th in Washington D.c became the 46th recipient and also the 6th African to win this award. He will be presented with the sum of $250,000 and a Laureate sculpture at a ceremony today, October 19, 2017 in the United States.
With bold reformative activities, he was able to transform this country’s agricultural sector through creative programs aimed at making Nigeria self sufficient in rice production, and making cassava a cash crop.
Despite several obstacles thrown in his path, he forged on, finally able to end 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer and seed sectors of Nigeria by launching the E- wallet system thus providing farmers with renewable vouchers which can be inputed using Mobile phones. The result of which led to the improvement of food security for over 40 million people living in rural suburbs.
In his speech earlier, President Buhari congratulated him on his efforts, going further to state that he won the prize due to his relentless drive for change in African agriculture for over 25 years,as well as his commitment towards improving food security for millions across the continent.
Currently the president of the African Development Bank, he stated , prior to his resumption of office that ‘he envisioned an Africa that can feed itself’. Till date, he has been diligently working towards fulfilling that goal, steadfastly improving the agricultural sector and reducing the rates of starvation in Nigeria.
We Celebrate You Mr Adewunmi Adesina