The Africa Food Prize, originally the Yara Prize, is an annual award for contributions to

African agriculture The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources of the continent. , approximately 1.3 billion people were living in 54 countries in Africa. Africa is a resource-rich continent. Recent growth has been du ...

Yara Prize

Yara International Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well ...

, a Norwegian chemical company and a large producer of fertilizer, established the Yara Prize for a Green Revolution in Africa in 2005. According to the company, "The Yara Prize aims at celebrating significant achievements related to food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture with a transformative power." The first recipient was

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres (Tigrinya and ; , born Legesse Zenawi Asres; 9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian soldier and politician who served as President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until his ...

, prime minister of Ethiopia. The choice of recipient received criticism in Norway from human rights organisations and exiled Ethiopians, due to his political history. About 1 000 people demonstrated against the award being given to him.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

stated that

Africa Food Prize

In 2016, the Yara Prize became the Africa Food Prize, a $100,000 annual award. As of 2021, the Africa Food Price Committee is chaired by

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

, former president of Nigeria. The first Africa Food Price winner was Kayano F. Nwanze, president of the

International Fund for Agricultural Development The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address ...

. Obasanjo stated that "Dr. Nwanze's accomplishments on behalf of African farmers are a reminder of what's possible when you combine passion, good ideas, commitment, focus, hard work and dedication."

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://africafoodprize.org/
Norsk bistand bidrar til drap og tortur i Etiopia
2016 opinion piece in ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'', with photo of 2005 demonstration African awards Agriculture awards