October 15, 2009
Ejeta presents eighth annual Norman Borlaug Lecture, receives World Food Prize
By
Michelle Rydell
It was a mother’s desire that her son would rise from a poverty-stricken country, armed with an education, to make a difference in the world. Gebisa Ejeta couldn’t have known at the time that a brilliant career in plant breeding lay before him, but 50 years later, his scientific breakthroughs have made him one of the most influential advocates for agricultural development in African countries.
Ejeta, the 2009 World Food Prize recipient and distinguished professor of agronomy at Purdue University, delivered the eighth annual Norman Borlaug Lecture titled “Revitalizing Agricultural Research for Global Food Security,” to hundreds of people in Memorial Union at Iowa State University Oct. 12. He received the $250,000 World Food Prize award Thursday, Oct. 15, in Des Moines at the Iowa State Capitol.
Ejeta focused his lecture on revitalizing agricultural sciences around the world and improving the lives of the one billion people around the world who suffer from chronic hunger. After what Ejeta calls “nearly two decades of relative complacency toward agriculture,” world leaders have finally “reawakened” to the idea that sustained support is necessary to transform agriculture, Ejeta said.
This shift in opinion has been prompted by several “ominous trends,” Ejeta said, including global climate change, the rapid pace of world population growth, an energy crisis, and the worldwide economic recession. While these trends present agriculture with a daunting set of challenges, there is also the enormous potential for opportunity, he said.
As a native of Ethiopia, Ejeta grew up in abject poverty, witnessing firsthand the hunger problem he would later devote his life to solving. His mother’s determination led him to be the first in his community to pursue an education, walking 20 kilometers each week to a nearby town to attend classes. After obtaining a college degree in plant science, he studied with famed sorghum researcher John Axtell at Purdue, where he later earned a doctoral degree in plant breeding and genetics.
It was Ejeta’s dream to use his knowledge and plant breeding skills to make a difference in his native country, but his research resulted in change for an entire continent. Ejeta developed sorghum hybrids that are resistant to drought and striga, a parasitic weed. By creating this new variety of sorghum, a staple crop in his home country, Ejeta increased food production for millions of people in Africa.
During his lecture, Ejeta called upon agricultural leaders around the world to renew their commitment to agricultural research, though he says there are huge challenges to overcome. “The way we would need to approach solving these kinds of problems is going to be changing,” Ejeta said.
Part of the problem comes from delivering emergency food aid to Africa, rather than advancing agricultural development in African countries, Ejeta said. He views this as a short-term solution to an increasingly devastating dilemma. Ejeta also advocated for a global perspective of institutions, which he says will develop a broader perspective, bring new insight, and aid in the understanding of others and their cultures.
By making these changes now, before the worldwide food crises worsen, Ejeta says giant steps can be taken to ensure global food security and improve people’s lives.
“We have to invest today, before the problems become more complex,” Ejeta said.
Contacts:
Pat Miller, Lectures Program, (515) 294-9935, pamiller@iastate.eduMichelle Rydell, College of Human Sciences' Communications Office, (515) 294-9424, hswriter@iastate.edu
