Ousmane Badiane
The Yara Prize 2015 is being awarded to Dr Ousmane Badiane, director for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Africa, and Mr Eric Kaduru, founder and chief executive of KadAfrica.
The Yara Prize Committee has selected two prominent African laureates for their work related to African agricultural development, food security and the continent’s green revolution. Both laureates have, through their personal commitment and special efforts, translated ideas on the development of African agriculture into impactful results in their areas of work.
The 2015 awards recognise effective entrepreneurial work, which has helped build communities of resilient young women actively engaged in commercial farming and honour African thought leadership, which has been instrumental in transforming the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme agenda from a mere concept into decisive actions.
“Africa needs to do more to foster entrepreneurial agriculture and the interests of women and youth in agriculture. More smallholder-oriented policy changes are needed to meet growth and poverty alleviation targets in rural areas.
In 2015, the Yara Prize honours two leading African change agents with transformational power. I wish to extend my personal congratulations to both laureates,” said Svein Tore Holsether, president and chief executive of Yara.
The two laureates will be celebrated during a Yara Prize ceremony in Lusaka, Zambia today in connection with the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2015.
Mr Kaduru is awarded the prize for his vision, his great courage and commitment to changing the lives of young out-of-school girls in Uganda.
Through his comprehensive approach to passion-fruit farming, he has managed to strengthen the girls’ belief in themselves as entrepreneurs. Building on this newly gained confidence, he has equipped them with the financial, technical, and entrepreneurial skills that allowed them to develop into commercial farmers.
Mr Kaduru’s passion for engaging African youth in agriculture as a positive and sustainable livelihood is exemplified through the fact that in less than two years, he has partnered with more than 1 500 young women (aged 14 to 20) to begin their own passion fruit farms (www.kadafrica.org).
Dr Badiane is awarded the prize for his important leadership role and influence on strategic debate and collaboration in Africa on agriculture and food security.
He is a first-class scholar and leading authority on African development with 30 years of professional experience in economic and agricultural development. As a persevering strong African voice, he has already had a profound impact on African governments across the continent (www.ifpri.org).
The Yara Prize for an African Green Revolution seeks to contribute to the transformation of agriculture and food availability within a sustainable context, thereby helping reduce hunger and poverty.
It is based on nominations of candidates who are carefully evaluated by the Yara Prize Committee.
The prize consists of US$60 000, which will be split between the laureates, a crystal trophy and a diploma. It was handed out in Oslo from 2005 to 2009. In 2012, it moved to Africa, where it was handed out as part of AGRF 2012 in Arusha, Tanzania. For more information, visit www.yaraprize.com
l Badiane is head of Yara Media Relations