Professor Gebisa Ejeta Wins 2009 World Food Prize
Dr. Wolassa L. Kumo
June 13, 2009
The Scientific Contribution
An acclaimed Oromo Ethiopian plant breeder and geneticist Professor Gebisa Ejeta has won the 2009 World Food Prize for developing drought-tolerant and parasite-resistant sorghum crop. Sorghum is one of the world´s five principal grains and staple food for about 500 million Africans.
According to Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, the work of Gebisa Ejeta, a professor at Purdue University in Indiana and a U.S. citizen, has dramatically enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa [1].
McConnell of Amercia.gov(June 12, 2009) stated that working in Sudan during the early 1980s, Ejeta developed Africa's first commercial hybrid variety of sorghum tolerant to drought. Later, with a Purdue colleague in Indiana, he discovered the chemical basis of the relationship between the deadly parasitic weed striga and sorghum, and was able to produce sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and striga.
In 1994, eight tons of drought- and striga-resistant sorghum seeds were distributed in Eastern Africa. They yielded four times more grain than traditional varieties, even in drought areas [1].
Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture stated at the ceremony that by ridding Africa of the greatest biological impediment to food production, Ejeta had put himself in the company of some of the greatest researchers and scientists [1].
Ejeta also has worked with national and local authorities and nongovernmental groups to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in Africa through the creation of agricultural enterprises [1]. Ejeta states his commitment to advance science-based development in Africa [4].
Ejeta was born in a poor rural village in Oromia region of Ethiopia and fully appreciates what it means to improve food security for the rural poor. Ejeta's sorghum varieties can be found in several countries across Africa, but he hopes they will spread even further. Furthermore he plans to develop a variety that is more suitable for human consumption in the United States itself.
People who know him describe Ejeta as the modern counter part of his ingenious Kushitic ancestors such as the Pharaohs of Egypt´s 25thy dynasty, Kashata, Piye (or Piankhi) and Taharqa who were symbols of an unrivaled ancient African civilization.
The World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is awarded annually to individuals whose efforts significantly contribute to improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. The Prize also recognizes contributions in any field involved in the world food supply -- food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership and the social sciences [2].
The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the 1970 winner of Nobel Peace Prize for his work in world agriculture. He is recognized around the world as "Father of the Green Revolution" and is credited with saving millions of lives from starvation in developing world during the 1960s and early 1970s.
During the ceremony Borlaug stated " Ejeta´s accomplishments in improving sorghum illustrates what can be achieved when cutting-edge technology and international cooperation in agriculture are used to uplift the world´s most vulnerable people." [1]
The World Food Prize is considered by many as the Nobel Prize of Agriculture [3]. The 2007 World Food Prize went to another Purdue University professor, Philip Nelson.
The Making of the Scientist
Ejeta, 59, once lived with the same kind of hunger faced by one in three people in sub-Saharan Africa. He acknowledges that he came from abject poverty. He grew up in a one-room thatched hut in a village without a school. Encouraged by his mother, he walked 12 miles (20 km) to a nearby town to attend classes, coming home only on weekends [4].
He attended an agricultural high school and college created with U.S. government aid, and was the first person from his community to get an education. He went on to earn a doctorate at Indiana's Purdue University, where he is a professor at present [4].
Ejeta´s new seeds yielded as much as four times the yield of local varieties.But what he is most proud of is the work he did with small farmers to create systems and companies to produce and sell the seed, and to spread the word about how best to grow the crops [4].
Ejeta states that African leaders have begun to show more commitment to agriculture, but believes that Africans need to lead development efforts and not just rely on foreign assistance from advanced countries such as the United States which he fears may lead to losing development momentum.
According to Rampton (June 11, 2009) based on information from Chicago Council on Global Affairs, U.S. annual spending on African farming projects topped $400 million in the 1980s, but by 2006 had dwindled to just $60 million. The United States is the world's largest donor of emergency food aid -- mainly crops grown by American farmers -- but spends 20 times as much on food aid to Africa as it spends on programs that could boost African food production. Ejeta therefore worries that development in Africa has stalled with the lack of funding, especially for research and education.
References
1] McConnell, Kathryn (12 June 2009) Ethiopian American Wins 2009 World Food Prize http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2009/June/
2] http://www.worldfoodprize.org/about/about.htm
3] Krizen, Julie (June 11, 2009) Purdue prof wins World Food Prize
www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local_wlfi_westlafayette_purdue_prof_wins_world_food_prize_2009061
4] Rampton, Roberta (June 11, 2009). Plant breeder hopes African development takes root.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN11502970
An acclaimed Oromo Ethiopian plant breeder and geneticist Professor Gebisa Ejeta has won the 2009 World Food Prize for developing drought-tolerant and parasite-resistant sorghum crop. Sorghum is one of the world´s five principal grains and staple food for about 500 million Africans.
According to Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, the work of Gebisa Ejeta, a professor at Purdue University in Indiana and a U.S. citizen, has dramatically enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa [1].
McConnell of Amercia.gov(June 12, 2009) stated that working in Sudan during the early 1980s, Ejeta developed Africa's first commercial hybrid variety of sorghum tolerant to drought. Later, with a Purdue colleague in Indiana, he discovered the chemical basis of the relationship between the deadly parasitic weed striga and sorghum, and was able to produce sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and striga.
In 1994, eight tons of drought- and striga-resistant sorghum seeds were distributed in Eastern Africa. They yielded four times more grain than traditional varieties, even in drought areas [1].
Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture stated at the ceremony that by ridding Africa of the greatest biological impediment to food production, Ejeta had put himself in the company of some of the greatest researchers and scientists [1].
Ejeta also has worked with national and local authorities and nongovernmental groups to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in Africa through the creation of agricultural enterprises [1]. Ejeta states his commitment to advance science-based development in Africa [4].
Ejeta was born in a poor rural village in Oromia region of Ethiopia and fully appreciates what it means to improve food security for the rural poor. Ejeta's sorghum varieties can be found in several countries across Africa, but he hopes they will spread even further. Furthermore he plans to develop a variety that is more suitable for human consumption in the United States itself.
People who know him describe Ejeta as the modern counter part of his ingenious Kushitic ancestors such as the Pharaohs of Egypt´s 25thy dynasty, Kashata, Piye (or Piankhi) and Taharqa who were symbols of an unrivaled ancient African civilization.
The World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is awarded annually to individuals whose efforts significantly contribute to improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. The Prize also recognizes contributions in any field involved in the world food supply -- food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership and the social sciences [2].
The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the 1970 winner of Nobel Peace Prize for his work in world agriculture. He is recognized around the world as "Father of the Green Revolution" and is credited with saving millions of lives from starvation in developing world during the 1960s and early 1970s.
During the ceremony Borlaug stated " Ejeta´s accomplishments in improving sorghum illustrates what can be achieved when cutting-edge technology and international cooperation in agriculture are used to uplift the world´s most vulnerable people." [1]
The World Food Prize is considered by many as the Nobel Prize of Agriculture [3]. The 2007 World Food Prize went to another Purdue University professor, Philip Nelson.
The Making of the Scientist
Ejeta, 59, once lived with the same kind of hunger faced by one in three people in sub-Saharan Africa. He acknowledges that he came from abject poverty. He grew up in a one-room thatched hut in a village without a school. Encouraged by his mother, he walked 12 miles (20 km) to a nearby town to attend classes, coming home only on weekends [4].
He attended an agricultural high school and college created with U.S. government aid, and was the first person from his community to get an education. He went on to earn a doctorate at Indiana's Purdue University, where he is a professor at present [4].
Ejeta´s new seeds yielded as much as four times the yield of local varieties.But what he is most proud of is the work he did with small farmers to create systems and companies to produce and sell the seed, and to spread the word about how best to grow the crops [4].
Ejeta states that African leaders have begun to show more commitment to agriculture, but believes that Africans need to lead development efforts and not just rely on foreign assistance from advanced countries such as the United States which he fears may lead to losing development momentum.
According to Rampton (June 11, 2009) based on information from Chicago Council on Global Affairs, U.S. annual spending on African farming projects topped $400 million in the 1980s, but by 2006 had dwindled to just $60 million. The United States is the world's largest donor of emergency food aid -- mainly crops grown by American farmers -- but spends 20 times as much on food aid to Africa as it spends on programs that could boost African food production. Ejeta therefore worries that development in Africa has stalled with the lack of funding, especially for research and education.
References
1] McConnell, Kathryn (12 June 2009) Ethiopian American Wins 2009 World Food Prize http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2009/June/
2] http://www.worldfoodprize.org/about/about.htm
3] Krizen, Julie (June 11, 2009) Purdue prof wins World Food Prize
www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local_wlfi_westlafayette_purdue_prof_wins_world_food_prize_2009061
4] Rampton, Roberta (June 11, 2009). Plant breeder hopes African development takes root.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN11502970