The Sunhak Peace Prize Committee has named President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, as one of the two 2019 Laureates for the Sunhak Peace Prize. The other is Waris Dirie, 53-year-old supermodel and anti-FGM activist.
As an agricultural economist, Dr. Adesina, 58, has been a leader in agricultural innovation for over 30 years. He has contributed greatly to food security in Africa, aimed at improving the lives of millions currently living in poverty, throughout the African continent. The Sunhak Committee acknowledges Dr. Adesina’s achievements in promoting Good Governance of Africa, which boosts Africa’s capacity to feed itself and transform its total economies for generating wealth for millions of rural and poor African farmers.
Chairman of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee, Dr. Il Sik Hong, stated: “The Sunhak Peace Prize was established based upon the vision of “One Family Under God.” The 2019 Sunhak Peace Prize gives special attention to peace and human development in Africa.”
Dr. Hong added: “In order for us to build an era of peace and coexistence in the 21st century, we want to encourage continuous development in Africa. Africa is a rising star and its growth will contribute global progress and development throughout the 21st century.”
The Sunhak Peace Prize honors individuals and organisations who have made significant contributions to the peace and the welfare of the future generations. The Sunhak Peace Prize includes a cash prize totaling $1 million. The 2019 Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony will take place in February 2019 in Seoul, Korea.
According to the AfDB, Dr. Adesina, a Nigerian, has been a leader in agricultural innovation in Africa for over 30 years, bringing great improvement to Africa’s food security. contributing to Africa’s dynamic growth. His leadership is building stepping-stones for Africa’s dynamic growth.
Dr. Adesina, adds the AfDB, pioneered major transformations in the agricultural field, including expanding rice production by introducing high yielding technologies, designing and implementing policies to support farmers’ access to technologies at scale, increasing the availability of credit for millions of smallholder farmers, attracting private investments for the agricultural sector, rooting out the corrupt elements in the fertilizer industry, and assisting in establishment of major agricultural policies for Africa’s green revolution.
The “Africa Fertiliser Summit,” which he organised in 2006, is said to be one of the largest high-level meetings in Africa’s history that had a focus on solving Africa’s food issues. During the Summit, Dr. Adesina was instrumental in developing the “Abuja Declaration on Fertiliser for the African Green Revolution,” whereby the participants stated their commitment to the “eradication of hunger in Africa, by 2030.”
