WASHINGTON, June 29 — Four scientists who specialised in sweet potatoes were named the winners of this year’s World Food Prize yesterday for their work to make foods more nutritious.
Maria Andrade of Cape Verde, Robert Mwanga of Uganda and American Jan Low, who all are from the Lima, Peru-based International Potato Centre, and American Howarth Bouis of the international research group HarvestPlus were honoured in a ceremony at the US State Department.
Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, called their work “a breakthrough achievement in developing and implementing biofortification.”
He defined biofortification as “the process of breeding critical vitamins and micronutrients into staple crops, thereby dramatically reducing hidden hunger and improving health for millions and millions of people.”
The honorees’ work has focused on the orange-fleshed sweet potato, an important source of vitamin A, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Vitamin A deficiency, especially there and in Asia, is a cause of blindness and premature death, according to the International Potato Centre, an agriculture research centre based in Lima, Peru.
“The impact of the work of all four winners will be felt around the globe but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Gayle Smith, head of the US Agency for International Development.
The prize is awarded annually by the World Food Prize Foundation for food and agriculture innovation. The scientists will share the US$250,000 (RM1 million) prize equally and it will be awarded at a ceremony during World Food Prize week in Des Moines, Iowa, in October, when the prize will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Past recipients include John Kufuour, a former president of Ghana; former US Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern; and Grameen Bank founder and Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. — Reuters
