WASHINGTON (AP) – An Ethiopian scientist who has helped to feed hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa has won this year’s World Food Prize.
Dr. Gebisa Ejeta was honored at the U.S. State Department Thursday for his breakthroughs in developing drought and disease-resistant forms of sorghum, which is an African diet staple. According to the U.S.-based World Food Prize Foundation, which awards the prize annually to individuals who have helped increase the global food supply, Ejeta’s efforts have exponentially increased production and availability of the crop around the continent.
Ejeta grew up in a one-room thatched hut in Ethiopia and eventually became a professor at Purdue University. He helped develop a drought-resistant sorghum in the 1980s that was eventually harvested on a million African acres, and later developed a type of sorghum that successfully resisted a persistent weed.
Sorghum is a grain that is used in many popular regional breads _ injera in Ethiopia, kisra in Sudan and roti in India _ and is also used to make couscous and some drinks. It is primarily used for animal feed and in renewable fuels in the United States.
The prize, an award of $250,000, was announced Thursday by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Established in 1986, the World Food Prize was created by Norman Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for developing successive generations of wheat varieties with disease resistance and sparking the “Green Revolution” that brought greater food supplies to Mexico and other developing countries around the world in the mid-20th century. He created the World Food Prize to honor efforts to solve global hunger problems.
Dr. Gebisa Ejeta named World Food Prize Laureate: SeedQuest
Ethiopian scientist named 2009 World Food Prize Laureate – Gebisa Ejeta developed drought- and weed-resistant sorghum, enhancing Africa’s food supply
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was the featured speaker as Dr. Ejeta was announced as the 2009 Laureate at a ceremony at the U.S. State Department on June 11 that also featured Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, World Food Prize President Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, and World Food Prize Chairman John Ruan III, among others.
Dr. Ejeta’s personal journey would lead him from a childhood in a one-room thatched hut in rural Ethiopia to the height of scientific acclaim as a distinguished professor, plant breeder, and geneticist at Purdue University. His work with sorghum, which is a staple in the diet of 500 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa, began in Ethiopia in the 1970s. Working in Sudan in the early 1980s, he developed Hageen Dura-1, the first ever commercial hybrid sorghum in Africa. This hybrid variety was tolerant to drought and out-yielded traditional varieties by up to 150 percent.
Dr. Ejeta next turned his attention to battling the scourge of Striga, a deadly parasitic weed which devastates farmers’ crops and severely limits food availability. Working with a colleague at Purdue University, he discovered the biochemical basis of Striga’s relationship with sorghum, and was able to produce many sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and Striga. In 1994, eight tons of Dr. Ejeta’s drought and Striga-resistant sorghum seeds were distributed to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Yield increases were as much as four times the yield of local varieties, even in severe drought areas.
“By ridding Africa of the greatest biological impediment to food production, Dr. Ejeta has put himself in the company of some of the greatest researchers and scientists recognized by this award over the past 23 years,” said Vilsack. “The Obama Administration is inspired by the tireless efforts of Dr. Ejeta has demonstrated in the battle to eliminate food insecurity and is committed to employing a comprehensive approach to tackle the scourge of world hunger.”
Dr. Ejeta’s scientific breakthroughs in breeding drought-tolerant and Striga-resistant sorghum have been combined with his persistent efforts to foster economic development and the empowerment of subsistence farmers through the creation of agricultural enterprises in rural Africa. He has led his colleagues in working with national and local authorities and nongovernmental agencies so that smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs can catalyze efforts to improve crop productivity, strengthen nutritional security, increase the value of agricultural products, and boost the profitability of agricultural enterprise – thus fostering profound impacts on lives and livelihoods on broader scale across the African continent.
“Even while he was making breakthroughs in the lab, Dr. Ejeta took his work to the field,” said Clinton. “He knew that for his improved seeds to make a difference in people’s lives, farmers would have to use them – which meant they would need access to a seed market and the credit to buy supplies.”
“Dr. Ejeta’s accomplishments in improving sorghum illustrate what can be achieved when cutting-edge technology and international cooperation in agriculture are used to uplift and empower the world’s most vulnerable people,” added Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, founder of the World Food Prize. “His life is as an inspiration for young scientists around the world.”
The 2009 World Food Prize will be formally presented to Dr. Ejeta at a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol on October 15, 2009. The ceremony will be held as part of the World Food Prize’s 2009 Borlaug Dialogue, which focuses on “Food, Agriculture and National Security in a Globalized World.” Further information about the Laureate Award Ceremony and Symposium can be found at www.worldfoodprize.org.
