The 2019 Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony
Excellencies, representatives of the diplomatic corp, distinguished delegates,
It’s an incredible honor for me to be here today and to speak and deliver a tribute to my great good friend Dr. Akimwumi Adesina.
But, at the same time, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Waris Dirie. I am a dad with a daughter. So, thank God for what you are doing and continue to do uphold the human rights of young girls. Together, these two Laureates truly will bring a distinct focus on uplifting Human Rights and Human Development in Africa and thereby advance the Sunhak Peace Agenda for the Future.
As the second decade of the 21st Century draws to a close, it is clear that the single greatest challenge that the human species, that human beings have ever confronted is this: can we nutritiously and sustainably feed the 9 to 10 billion people who will be on Earth by the year 2050, and a second inextricably linked existential issue is whether global peace and stability, so essential to meeting that overriding global food security goal, can be maintained. Peace and global food security.
Essential to fulfilling those is whether the human dignity of all, particularly the poorest, the malnourished, among them women and children, can be preserved and elevated.
In my capacity as President of the World Food Prize, I have traveled over 12,000 miles from our headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa in the American heartland, to be here to proclaim that, given these overriding global challenges of peace and agriculture, there could be no more fitting choice, the selection of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, son of Nigeria, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate and President of the African Development Bank, to be the 2019 Sunhak Peace Prize Laureate.
More than any other individual, Dr. Adesina embodies the personal attributes, the substantive knowledge, and this broad vision that has produced a decade long array of impressive achievements that have already uplifted the lives of millions across Africa. Through this exceptional leadership, He has shown us the path that must be followed if the world is to remain at peace and meet and overcome the unprecedented humanitarian and ecological challenges we face.
Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge of feeding 9 to 10 billion people will ultimately be decided in those areas with between one and two billion people: In China, in India, in Latin America centered around Brazil, and in Africa. Success will be determined by investment in science and research, enhanced nutrition, the “grey matter,” expanded rural infrastructure especially roads and policies that unleash innovation and increase crop yields, all designed to uplift small holder farmers. Above all, peace will be a critical element of success.
Of all the regions, Africa with its broad array of geographic sub-divisions and multiple political leaders, offers the most difficult challenge of harmonizing all these diverse factors. It will be there in Africa that the greatest challenge in all human history will ultimately be decided. Can a peaceful Africa feed itself?
Last November sitting in the audience of over 1,000 potential investors at the African Investment Forum that he organized, I listened as the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina mesmerized the attendees, imbuing in them with the sense of “Yes, Africa Can.”
And, standing there with the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nelson Mandela, the man who transformed South African agriculture and brought peace to that country, to guide him, my friend Akin Adesina was expounding his vision of how all of African agriculture can be transformed by Africans themselves and thereby bring peace to the continent. It filled me and everyone there with hope and optimism about Africa’s future.
And, I want to one more thing about our Laureate, and that’s about his name. Adesina, the name has two meanings. The first part means, like the laurel, that would be placed on the head of someone who has achieved a great thing. It’s like a crown or laurel leaf. And his last name, Adesina means, he who is carrying things forward, leading things forward.
So, today, you have given him that laurel of the Sunhak Peace Prize. So, that he now has even greater platform from which to lead the way forward, to confront the ultimate challenge to bring a Green Revolution to Africa and build peace. I know that Dr. Norman Borlaug is looking down this day with a large smile on his face for all you have done, My Friend, and for all you will continue to do.
Congratulations!
