Sweetpotato Knowledge Portal
It is hard to believe that one year has gone by since the ceremony awarding the 2016 World Food Prize to three CIP sweetpotato scientists, Jan Low, Maria Andrade, and Robert Mwanga and Howdy Bouis of HarvestPlus.
On the 19th of October, the mantle passed to the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Akin Adesina, currently serving as President of the African Development Bank and former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria and Vice-President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution. The ceremony this year was a lot of fun, with singers and drummers from Nigeria getting former President Obasanjo and Akin dancing.
Dr. Akin Adesina is an agricultural economist by training (Purdue University, his alma mater was well represented and acknowledged). He is also a strong supporter of nutrition, including biofortification, consistently making the case that stunted children today lead to stunted economies tomorrow. He specifically mentioned a commitment to get orange-fleshed sweetpotato processing moving in SSA in his luncheon speech made at the Borlaug Dialogue the day after the ceremony.
Read more about Dr Adesina here
