Ethiopian scientistwas named on Thursday as the winner ofthe 2009 World Food Prize in an event at the U.S. State Department.Ejeta, a faculty member at Purdue University in the Midwestern U.S.state of Indiana, was honored for his work on drought andweed-resistant varieties of sorghum.
Ejeta is only the second African to winthe Food Prize since its creation in 1986 by Nobel Peace LaureateNorman Borlaug, the American agronomist credited with starting aso-called "Green Revolution" with high-yield wheat varieties.
TheEthiopian geneticist and seed-breeder, who joined the Purdue Universityfaculty in 1984, is being honored for his work in developing strains ofsorghum that are resistant to drought and the parasitic weed Striga,which has been a plague to farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Ejeta,who was not present at the State Department event, will receive theaward on October 15 in a ceremony by the World Food Prize Foundationin Des Moines, Iowa.
The president of the foundation, formerU.S. ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth Quinn, said Ejeta's work withsorghum has benefited millions of people in Africa and beyond.
"Hedeveloped and introduced the first sorghum hybrid in Africa in theearly 1980s, which was drought tolerant and produced significantlyhigher yields," said Quinn. "In the 1990s, he conquered the greatestbiological constraint to cereal production in Africa - the deadly weedStriga. Having discovered the bio-chemical basis of Striga's parasiticrelationship with sorghum, our laureate's breeding program at Purdueproduced many sorghum varieties resistant to drought and to Striga withyields 10 times greater than local varieties."
The World FoodPrize chief was joined on the podium by U.S. Agriculture Secretary TomVilsack and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who stressed the Obamaadministration's commitment to attack world hunger, which affects anestimated one billion people.
She noted that in addition todeveloping new sorghum strains, Ejeta worked in India and Sudan on waysto get his improved seeds into the hands of farmers, underscoring theneed for a comprehensive approach to repairing what Clinton called abroken global supply chain for food.
"The Obama administrationis committed to providing leadership in developing a new globalapproach to hunger," she said. "For too long, our primary response hasbeen to send emergency aid when the crisis is at its worst. This saveslives, but doesn't address hunger's root causes. It is at best ashort-term fix. So we will support the creation of effective,sustainable farming systems in regions around the world where currentmethods are not working."
The World Food Prize, judged by acouncil of advisers that includes former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carterand George H.W. Bush, carries a $250,000 award. The previous Africanwinner was plant breeder Monty Jones of Sierra Leone who, with Chinesecolleague Yuan Longping, was honored in 2004 for work on high-yieldingrice varieties.