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Senegalese forestry engineer Baba Dioum is one of the winners of the prestigious African Food Prize. The co-winner is Dr. Emma Naluyima from Uganda. The two winners will share a prize of 100,000 USD.

"Baba Dioum has built a reputation around markets and trade in agricultural products. His work has contributed to the evolution of policies to promote cross-border agricultural trade in West Africa", reads the website of the institution that manages the Food Prize.

"To help consolidate West Africa's position in this market, he has created a regional network of mango exporters and developed a successful regional brand. It is also involved in the production of vegetables and potatoes for export."

"As early as 1964, I learned through forestry and civic education that meeting short-term needs can also be used to meet long-term prospects," Baba Dioum is quoted on the AGRA website.

Following this announcement, CORAF, the leading regional institution for the coordination of research in West and Central Africa, congratulated Baba Dioum.

"Our sincere congratulations to Baba Dioum for this extraordinary recognition. He is the pride of the region. His work highlights the regionality approach, which is at the heart of CORAF's intervention," said CORAF General Manager Dr. Abdou Tenkouano.

The African Food Prize highlights bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to create a new era of food security and economic opportunity for all Africans.

Previous AFP winners include the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), chosen in 2018 for its leadership in innovative agricultural research and technologies that have improved food security, nutrition and incomes for millions of people in Africa, and 2017 winners Professor Ruth Oniang'o of Kenya and Ms Maïmouna Sidibe Coulibaly of Mali.

Read the full AGRA article