Meeting American Ambassador
Kenneth M. Quinn: Finding Hope in a Hungry World
My recent three weeks sojourn to United
States of America took me to the Hall of Laureates of the World Food Prize
Foundation at the Des Moines, Iowa State. It was a mission full of spectacular
experience with amazing outcomes whose memory will ever remain refreshing in my
life. After three hours driving from Lincoln, we arrived Des Moines at 12 noon,
scheduled time for the lunch meeting with Ambassador Kenneth Quinn. After the
formal introduction with amiable staff of the Foundation, I and my team
members; Prof Chris Daudu and Dr Bala Shehu were ushered into the venue of the
lunch when the Ambassador briskly appeared with an affable smile and warmth
welcome. His voice was resonating and reminding me “I heard this voice” but
couldn’t recall where and when. However, in the course of our discussion, it became
clear that he was a keynote speaker of an event I participated a week
earlier. The event was the annual
International Conference of American Society of Agricultural and Biological
Engineers (ASABE), which was held in Spokane, Washington State. It was
a forum for acknowledging innovations in design and technology and creation of
opportunities for professional development in Agricultural and Biological
Engineering – with a focus on the global economic, political and societal
impacts facing agriculture. Over 1,700 Agricultural Engineers across the globe
gathered at the Convention center of Spokane for the 4 days pack-full of
activities (6:30 am to 9 pm). The choice of Ambassador Quinn as the keynote
speaker was an apt and timely one in the face of global food insecurity - hunger
and poverty; the twin sisters who are inseparable, wherever one is, the other
is lurking behind scene. There couldn’t have been a better choice. Bravo 2017
ASABE Organizers!
Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, former U.S.
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, is the President of World Food Prize
Foundation, which he assumed since January 1, 2000. This was immediately after his
retirement from public service. He served the US State Department for 32 years as
a career diplomat in the Foreign Service. The Ambassador joint the foundation
as a result of inspiration by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug’s vision who founded the
World Food Prize in 1986. Ambassador
Quinn built this legendary annual event and raised it for annual award of $250,000
into the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture.” The event holds every October
16th in Des Moines, coinciding with World Food Day. The foundation
has many soul touching activities; The World Food Prize Laureate Award
Ceremony, Borlaug Dialogue international symposium and Global Youth Institute.
These have grown in size and stature under the formidable leadership of
Ambassador Quinn. Today, the Hall of Laureates of the Foundation occupies the
historic Des Moines Public Library, a building designed to achieve LEED
Platinum certification, the highest possible level of energy efficiency and
resource conservation. This is to the credit of the Ambassador Quinn with an
active support of the John Ruan family, who championed the campaign that successfully
raised $29.8 million to restore and transform the old library into the World
Food Prize Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates.
Pleasantly, the 2017 World Food Prize
Laureate was won by one of us, a famous Nigerian; Dr Akinwumi Adesina,
immediate past Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Dr Adesina is the
current President of the African Development Bank. He is being honored as “2017
World Food Prize Laureate for his leading role over the past decade”, he
significantly expanded food production in Nigeria by introducing “ initiatives
to exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers
across the African continent”. As
Minister, Adesina’s policy expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 metric tons
and the country attracted $5.6 billion
in private sector investment in agriculture. Adesina is the first Nigerian to
win the prize and fourth in Africa to be so awarded since 1987 when M. S. Swaminathan,
an Indian became the first to win the prize. In addition to Adesina’s giant
achievement, it was also a heartwarming for us to notice the picture of former
Nigerian President Olusegun Obansanjo hanging amid the pictures of Board
members in the hall of this famous international Foundation. Nigeria, a giant
of Africa may be facing several developmental challenges at home but has some
sons and daughters whose positive contributions to global arena are dually
recognized and part of this credit must go to our nation.
Hunger is a menace to individual, family
and nation, it has to be first subdued or eradicated before facing other needs.
To buttress this point, let me quote the statement of Dr Richard Berkland, the
Vice President of Valmont International, Valley who said “we must fulfill physiological
needs before we can truly address and make progress on higher – level needs”.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs best illustrates this statement, we have to fulfill
physiological needs (hunger, thirsty, air), then move to safety (personal,
financial security, health), move up to social needs, esteem, cognitive,
aesthetic and finally to self – actualization. Therefore hunger is a big issue
to humanity and it is rearing it’s ugly face especially in the developing
countries. José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General presented this reality
at the 2015 annual State of Food
Insecurity in the
World (SOFI) as he was quoted saying “Hunger
remains an everyday challenge for almost 795 million people worldwide,
including 780 million in developing regions. Thus, hunger eradication should
remain a key commitment of decision-makers at all levels”. The World Food Prize Foundation was
principally established to fight global hunger through according recognition to
the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by
improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
A visitor to this edifice, the World Food
Prize Foundation must conspicuously recognize the collective breakthrough of
four men of fame; Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, Mr. John
Ruan and Mr. Howard G. Buffett, respectively. Each of these men had his name imprinted
in gold in the strenuous global fight against hunger and extreme poverty.
Although the fight is not won and may not be easily won for a long time come,
but progress has been made. However, the progress in fighting hunger and the
emerging challenges against food security are progressively moving at different
rates; the later is moving at exponential rate while the former moves at
arithmetic progression. To x-ray the struggle of these eminence men of
distinction, one must start with the work of Norman Borlaug. Who was he?
Norman Ernest Borlaug was born on March 25,
1914 at a farmhouse near Cresco, Iowa State USA. He was a son to a farming family
of Henry and Clara Borlaug. He had his primary and secondary education in
Cresco and proceeded to the University of Minnesota where he studied forestry. After
completing his Bachelor of Science degree in 1937, he worked for the U.S.
Forestry Service at stations in Massachusetts and Idaho. He returned to the
University of Minnesota where he studied plant pathology at both Master’s and
doctorate degree levels in 1939 and 1942, respectively. He worked at the du
Pont de Nemours Foundation as a researcher on industrial and agricultural
bactericides, fungicides, and preservatives. In 1944, he was appointed as
geneticist and plant pathologist, assigned the task of organizing and directing
the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program in Mexico. The program
was a collaborative effort between Mexican government and the Rockefeller
Foundation. It involved complete scientific research in genetics, plant
breeding, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy, soil science, and cereal
technology. Within twenty years of his career, Dr. Borlaug was spectacularly
successful in finding high-yielding short-straw, disease-resistant wheat. This
was a historic milestone in the scientific career of Dr. Borlaug. Added to this
scientific goal, was his practical humanitarian posture. Thus, he worked hard
to put the new wheat strains into extensive production for the purpose of feeding
the hungry people of the world. (To be continued next week) View the newspaper version
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