Purdue – The cradle of astronauts, the cradle of quarterbacks, and the cradle of World Food Prize Laureates!  Later this month, Purdue Agriculture alumnus Dr. Akinwumi Adesina will receive the 2017 World Food Prize for his work as a reformer and leader in African agriculture. Dr. Adesina, who is president of the African Development Bank Group and previously served as minister of agriculture in his native Nigeria, earned his MS and PhD degrees at Purdue in agricultural economics. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Purdue University in 2015. He is receiving the World Food Prize for the work he has done to create innovative financial instruments and implement policies that have transformed the lives of 14.5 million African farmers and expanded the food supply by 21 million metric tons. 

Dr. Adesina has spent his entire career focused on reducing poverty and feeding the hungry in Africa. Commenting about this commitment and his new award, he said: “Africa must feed itself, rapidly unlock its agricultural potential and help feed the world. And we must end malnutrition in Africa. That's the life challenge and exciting task ahead of me now in my current position as president of the African Development Bank, to feed Africa. I know we can do it. The World Food Prize gives me an even greater global platform to make that future happen much faster for Africa.”

Dr. Adesina becomes the third Purdue Agriculture alumnus to be awarded the World Food Prize, which is widely considered the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture. Dr. Phil Nelson received it in 2007 and Dr. Gebisa Ejeta was honored in 2009. They specialize in different areas – agricultural economics (Adesina), food science (Nelson), and agronomy (Ejeta).  All three have shared goals of eliminating hunger, providing safe food and improving nutrition around the world.

Apart from their World Food Prize Laureate distinctions, these three Purdue Agriculture alumni have something else in common: they embody the land grant mission and Purdue Agriculture’s long history of working to improve lives around the world. They had a drive and a passion to make a difference. They used their tremendous intellect and their ability to innovate to come up with new solutions to pressing problems across the globe. They were able to identify problems, do the research to develop solutions and then extend those solutions to the world to make a difference in people’s lives. Many faculty and staff members preceded them in this global work, and many will follow them – inspired, no doubt, by the work of these three individuals.

Purdue Agriculture’s International Programs in Agriculture has been helping us reach around the world for more than 60 years, and under the leadership of Associate Dean Indrajeet Chaubey, we are well positioned to continue and enhance our leadership role. I have no doubt that Purdue Agriculture will have more World Food Prize Laureates to celebrate in the future!