The Yara Prize Committee is inviting nominations
for a candidate that deserves recognition for achievements in combating hunger
and poverty and enhancing food security and sustainable agricultural
development in Africa.
“The
Yara Prize 2013 will have a specific focus on youth and agriculture, paying
particular attention to innovation and entrepreneurship”, said Committee head, Jørgen Ole
Haslestad, who is also the President and CEO of Yara International ASA.
He
noted “an important part of the current discourse on agricultural development
in Africa is about creating more interest and engagement amongst the
continent’s increasingly youthful population”.
The Yara Prize winner will receive US$60,000, a
trophy and a diploma which will be handed out in September
this year. The winner is free to decide how to
utilize the Prize in order to further the sustainable greening and development
of Africa.
The Prize can be awarded to any
individual or identifiable group of individuals, as well as to established
institutions, associations, organizations or government bodies with a formal
and recognized judicial and organizational structure contributing to the
overall objectives of the Prize.
The Yara Prize was established in 2005 as a direct
response to former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan’s call for a green
revolution in Africa. It recognizes food and nutrition security and
sustainable agricultural initiatives with a transformative power, and serves as
inspiration for action to scale up the African Green Revolution.
The
Prize was awarded annually in the years 2005–2009 and reinstituted in 2012 in
connection with AGRF 2012 (African Green Revolution
Forum) in Arusha, Tanzania.
During
the first five years, the Yara Prize was awarded to eight individuals and one
organization representing seven countries in total.
The
laureates represent a diverse range of African society engaged in the African
Green Revolution: entrepreneurs and scientists, activists and organizers,
businessmen and politicians.
The
Yara Prize 2012 was awarded to two female African leaders; Dr. Agnes Kalibata, Minister of Agriculture and Animal
Resources in Rwanda, and Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin,
outgoing CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange.
Dr.
Kalibata was recognized for her outstanding leadership in the transformation of
food security and agricultural development in Rwanda, whilst Dr. Gabre-Mahdin
was honoured for her remarkable stewardship of the transformation process
toward an efficiently functioning market, especially for smallholder coffee
producers in Ethiopia.
Yara
delivers solutions for sustainable agriculture, the environment and safe and
efficient industry operations.
Story
by Kofi Adu Domfeh
No comments:
Post a Comment