The World Food Prize Foundation has explained why Akinwumi Adesina, Minister for Agriculture in the regime of Goodluck Jonathan, won the $250,000 2017 World Food Prize on Monday.

We list six reasons why Adesina won the award, otherwise known as the ‘Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture’, as explained by Kenneth Quinn, a former US Foreign Service Officer and President of the Foundation.

CHANGE

Quinn said Adesina won the prize “for driving change in African agriculture for over 25 years and improving food security for millions across the continent”.

BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVEMENTS AS MINISTER

Adesina, who is also President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), was named winner to reflect “both his breakthrough achievements as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria”.

“Adesina led a major expansion of commercial bank lending to farmers as Vice President of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, introduced the E-Wallet system”.

As Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2015, he “successfully transformed his country’s agriculture sector through bold reforms”. The bold reforms include creating programmes to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production, and to make cassava become a major cash crop.

CREDIT INITIATIVE TO FARMERS

He also “introduced initiatives to exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent and galvanized the political will to transform African agriculture”.

ANTI-POVERTY CAMPAIGN

Adesina “grew up in poverty himself and embarked on a journey to use his academic training to “lift up millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural Africa”.

GREEN REVOLUTION

Quinn said in 2006, as Associate Director for Food Security at the Rockefeller Foundation, Adesina played a critical leadership role in organising the Africa Fertilizer Summit in Abuja.

He said the summit was described as absolutely essential in igniting the campaign to spread a new Green Revolution across Africa, which led to the creation of AGRA.

“Our Laureate next played a leadership role in the development of AGRA, during which he led the effort to exponentially expand commercial credit for the agricultural sector and for farmers across the continent,” he said.

‘BREAKING THE BACK OF CORRUPTION’

“As Minister of Agriculture of his home country Nigeria, our Laureate introduced the E-Wallet system which broke the back of the corrupt elements that had controlled the fertilizer distribution system for 40 years.

“The reforms he implemented increased food production by 21 million metric tonnes and attracted 5.6 billion dollars in private sector investments, thus earning him the reputation as the ‘Farmer’s Minister.’”

Adesina is the first person from agriculture to ever lead a regional development bank. He becomes the 46th person and the sixth African to win the World Food Prize.

He will be presented the prize and Laureate sculpture at a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol on October 19.