First Africa Food Prize awarded to IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze

President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, has been awarded the inaugural Africa Food Prize at the African Green Revolution Forum in Nairobi.

The Africa Food Prize Committee, chaired by Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, selected Dr. Nwanze for his outstanding leadership and passionate advocacy in putting Africa’s smallholder farmers at the center of the global agricultural agenda.

“Dr. Nwanze is a model for how a great leader can make a difference in the lives of people on the ground,” said Obasanjo. “Whether that leader is the head of a global institution, a head of state, or head of a small organization, Dr. Nwanze’s accomplishments on behalf of Africa’s farmers are a reminder of what’s possible when you combine passion, good ideas, hard work and dedication.”

This new, US $100,000 award celebrates individuals and institutions that are changing the reality of farming in Africa from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.

Alongside his tireless advocacy, Dr. Nwanze is credited with reorienting IFAD´s work to focus more on making small-scale farming a viable business, as well as expanding IFAD's presence in developing countries to increase the organization's effectiveness. The Prize also acknowledges Nwanze´s courage in reminding African leaders to go beyond promising development and change to delivering it.

“I would like to dedicate this award to the millions of African women who silently toil to feed their families,” said Dr. Nwanze. “No nation has been able to transform itself without giving women the same rights and opportunities as men. Our hope for future generations rests with African women who bear and raise our young people who will shape the African continent in the years to come.”

Congratulating the laureate, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said that Dr. Nwanze’s achievements reflect extremely well the ideals the award represents, putting a bright spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to create a new era of food security and economic opportunity for all Africans.

“By calling attention to the exemplary leadership of Kanayo Nwanze and to the compelling ideas that have guided him,” said Kalibata, “we wish to encourage many others to follow in his footsteps and boldly use the opportunities available to them to change the reality of African farming—from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.”

“In honoring Kanayo Nwanze, the Africa Food Prize Committee could not have made a better choice as the former Yara Prize takes on its new and authentic African identity,” said Svein Tore Holsether, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara International ASA (Yara). “Since its inception in 2005, the Yara Prize has honored special people who have contributed in different ways to transform African agriculture. The first Africa Food Prize recognizes an outstanding African leader who has dedicated his work to improve the lives for smallholder farmers. With 80 percent of farms run by smallholders, the key to transforming African agriculture lies in empowering the smallholder farmer, enabling rural value creation and providing jobs for rural youth.”

The Prize recognizes Nwanze for his individual leadership, but also for the results of successful efforts at IFAD in the years he has been at the helm. IFAD, a specialized United Nations agency and International Financial Institution dedicated to eradicating rural poverty, is not the same organization today that it was in 2009, when Nwanze took office as President.

Despite a major global economic downturn, he succeeded in growing the Fund´s overall resources, with significant increases in commitments from member states. As a result of this overall increase in IFAD´s portfolio of loans and grants, its ongoing investments in Africa more than doubled—from US$1.3 billion at the start of Nwanze´s tenure to $2.7 billion in 2015—benefiting more than 75 million rural people.

African Agriculture: over $30billion in new investment commitment

African agriculture has received a boost as African leaders, businesses, and major development partners pledge more than US$30 billion dollars in investments to increase production, income and employment for smallholder farmers and local African agriculture businesses over the next ten years.

The collective pledges are believed to represent the largest package of financial commitments to the African agricultural sector to date, backed by the broadest coalitions ever assembled in support of food production on the continent.

The commitments were made at the official opening of the sixth African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Nairobi, Kenya that has attracted more than 1,500 influential figures from 40 countries for three days of brokering new agricultural initiatives.

The historic investments represent just the first wave of support for the new “Seize the Moment” campaign, one backed by the African Union Commission, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), key NGOs, companies and donor countries.

While African agriculture has seen significant progress in the last ten years, the “Seize the Moment” campaign is a frank acknowledgment that much more is needed for African countries to achieve inclusive economic development—and ultimately realize the international community’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The campaign is a decisive push for the political, policy, and financial commitments essential to transforming Africa’s agricultural sector.

The goal is to breed a new era of business opportunities for the 70 percent of the African population that depend on farming for food and income, yet too often face poverty and poor nutrition.

Committing himself to deliver on both the political and policy agenda, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced his government will invest US$200 million so at least 150,000 young farmers and young agriculture entrepreneurs can gain access to markets, finance, and insurance.

He then called on his fellow heads of state across Africa to step-up and invest aggressively over the next five years in agriculture-related endeavors.

Gayle Smith, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), set the tone for the day with a call for investors and donors to be bold and do their part to achieve “A Food-Secure 2030”.

The US government already has invested more than $6.6 billion in global food security and nutrition efforts through its Feed the Future initiative. This commitment is now locked in for the long-term following approval in July of the bipartisan Global Food Security Act legislation.

Mr. Smith noted that the initiative “signals the US government's enduring commitment to global food security and nutrition and is the largest development authorization the US Congress has made in a decade.”

Other agriculture investors and development partners announcing new financial and policy commitments included: The African Development Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group, OCP Africa, World Food Programme, Yara International ASA, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Additional new investments are expected at the three-day forum.

Strive Masiyiwa, AGRF Partners Chairman and Founder and CEO of Econet called for other investors and partners to join the “Seize the Moment” campaign during the year ahead.

President Kenyatta, as Chair of the African Peer Review Mechanism concluded the ceremony by calling for a continental scorecard that will measure and track the commitments to agriculture transformation and ensure they translate into action.