Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has picked up the World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug Medallion, recognizing world leaders whose actions have benefited mankind but who would not normally be eligible for the World Food Prize.
This World Food Prize Foundation press release says Annan was befittingly awarded the medallion during the first-ever African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in his home country of Ghana:
The award is in recognition of Annan’s international leadership as Secretary-General of the United Nations and as chairman of the board for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. In both roles, Annan has brought significant attention to the issue of global food security, most notably in establishing the UN Millennium Development Goals during his time at the United Nations.
“Over the past decade, no one has done more than Kofi Annan to bring attention to the critical issue of global food security around the world nor in fulfilling Norman Borlaug’s dream of bringing the Green Revolution to Africa,” said Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. The World Food Prize Foundation was founded by the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner who has been called the “father of the Green Revolution” for his breakthroughs in wheat production that helped save over a billion lives, and who had a passion for ending hunger in Africa.
“It is a great honor to receive this award in my home country Ghana. We are making great strides in putting farmers and agriculture at the center of our development,” said Annan, who received a standing ovation from over 600 people in the audience. “Public and private partners are working closely together to transform Africa’s agriculture to benefit smallholder farmers and increase food security and nutrition in Ghana and across the continent.”
“We have left farmers to sink or swim without help for far too long,” Annan said. “After decades of neglect, agriculture has returned to the development agenda. Now it is time to bring together the many players – from farmers to CEOs – to achieve rapid, large-scale results that will put an end to hunger and poverty.”
Annan, who was recognized in 2001 with a Nobel Peace Prize in part for his work to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, now serves as chairman of the board for AGRA … a group that works for a food-secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers.
Don’t forget, this year’s World Food Prize’s annual international symposium will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 12-16 and focuses on “Taking it to the Farmer: Reaching the World’s Smallholders.” David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Jo Luck, president of Heifer International are honorees at this year’s event.