Three World Food Prize laureates call for global action to save African crops

The fall armyworm reportedly has a foothold in 28 nations in Africa, and it feeds on crops that include maize, which more than 200 million Africans depend on for food security

DES MOINES, United States of America, October 19, 2017/ -- The world’s anti-hunger organizations have an opportunity to prevent widespread destruction of African crops by stopping the spread of an insect, warn three of the most respected thinkers on international agriculture.

However, the international community must act swiftly, in cooperation, and on a large scale to do so. The fall armyworm reportedly has a foothold in 28 nations in Africa, and it feeds on crops that include maize, which more than 200 million Africans depend on for food security.

“The armyworm is a clear and present danger,” said Akinwumi Adesina, who will be inducted as the 2017 World Food Prize winner on October 19 in Des Moines, Iowa. “Doing nothing is not an option. What we need are urgent actions to support Africa, to rapidly address this real threat to its food security.”

The World Food Prize is popularly known as the Nobel Prize for agriculture. Adesina is President of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org). He is calling for action from the world’s governmental, non-profit, corporate, and academic leaders gathered for a three-day symposium surrounding his induction.

Known as the Norman Borlaug Dialogue, the symposium draws a global agricultural development community to Des Moines to discuss strategies for responding to the greatest challenges in feeding a world population expected to rise to 10 billion by mid-century.

“Stopping the armyworm is the highest purpose to which we can dedicate this year’s Borlaug Dialogue,” said Pedro Sanchez, a soil scientist with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the 2002 World Food Prize laureate. “We hope to galvanize those with resources and expertise to rush to the aid of those in need.”

Robert Fraley, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto and the 2013 laureate, emphasized that a great deal is known about how to address the threat. In fact, the fall armyworm has long been in North America, but scientists and producers have largely been successful in containing it.

“The good news is that this threat is eminently preventable. We have strategies to detect the insect early, to stop its spread, and to identify crop varieties most resistant to it,” Fraley said. “The world’s anti-hunger community needs to invest the resources to put those tools to use.”

Borlaug was a Nobel Peace Prize winner credited with using advances in agriculture to save a billion lives. He was born in Iowa and established the World Food Prize.

For more on the World Food Prize/Borlaug Dialogue events, please visit: https://www.AfDB.org/2017wfp and http://www.WorldFoodPrize.org.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

View multimedia content

Media contacts:
Jennifer Patterson
Principal Communication Officer
Tel: +225 75 75 04 58
J.Patterson@AfDB.org

Emeka Anuforo
Communication Officer
E.Anuforo@AfDB.org

Technical contacts:
Pedro Sanchez
University of Florida
Tel: +1 646-244-1720
PedroSanchez@UFL.edu

Martin Fregene
African Development Bank
Tel: +1 314-308-8774
M.Fregene@AfDB.org

SOURCE
African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

Multimedia content

    Download logo
    Document: Fall Armyworm: Impacts and Implications for Africa [1]
    Document: Fall Armyworm: Impacts and Implications for Africa [2]
    Link: African Development Bank

Share
Twitter |  Facebook |  LinkedIn |  Google+ |  Tumblr |  Reddit |  Pinterest |  StumbleUpon

APO Group - Africa Newsroom | Safe sender instructions | Privacy Policy

Distributed by :

APO Group
2nd, 3rd and 4th floor
Voie du Chariot 3
1003 Lausanne – Switzerland
Tel : +41 22 534 96 97
E-mail: switzerland (at) APO-opa.org
www.APO-opa.com

http://links.apo-mail.org/wf/open?upn=aWDIlLU8GHIzAwNDuKucrPPDFLcG0INLBAch3midqRcR3gTrL6iCF6HviBNzLxnyDg0XF8SCyqKm-2ByfEQbhrHNRMHi6YbwNr7zb00foe89ITWJGjIMBVY66hZF5ZC-2FjdpOhysiDSkW-2BaJrJ3cVtNAjyTHJcMmRPiMkaRliboEwP4HPUwLz0JPmPaBUq8nqwjyk8w0pDKnJ6BX8Tp3oI-2BNQo3VM3GWfey-2FP27XzkXTNk-3D

To unsubscribe from APO news releases please click here.
Quick Reply
To: News Release - APO <no-reply@apo-wire.com>  
    Include quoted text with reply

« Back to Inbox               ‹ Newer 48 of hundreds Older ›
Get Gmail on your mobile phone at http://mail.google.com using your phone's web browser.   Learn more
You're currently using 9515 MB (61%) of your 15360 MB
Last account activity: 32 minutes ago on this computer.  Details
Gmail view: standard | basic HTML  Learn more
Terms - Privacy - Google Home