Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has received the Order of the Griffin award, one of Purdue University’s highest honours, recognising his vision to boost up agricultural economy in Africa
Adesina, also a former student of the university, received this award from Mitchell Daniels, president of Purdue University, during a presidential lecture series held at the university on 23 October 2017.
The Order of the Griffin is given to individuals whose commitment and service to the university go well beyond the call of duty and whose strength and vision have greatly benefitted the institution and the world.
“We have a lot of recognitions here at Purdue and lots of ways to honour people who do extraordinary things,” said Daniels.
Answering questions at the presidential lecture series, Adesina emphasised the need to enshrine e-governance in Africa. He described e-governance as essential for citizen participation and transparency and also spoke on the need for strong institutions in Africa.
“It is important to build very srong institutions, and also important to have strong economic management to make sure that the countries can have robust growth. Without growth you can't distribute anything,” he described.
He identified peace as critical to achieving the green revolution in Africa, highlighting that AfDB is taking measures to help African countries to build more resilient economies.
“I think that it is a very important area that we need to deal with. At the end of the day, when you have insecurity, it is the women and children who suffer the most. Africa has a rising refugee population as a result of insecurity in many of our countries,” he explained.
“We also have a lot of problems from malnutrition because of a lack of food. To have development or to have, let me say, a green revolution that we're talking about, we have to sow the seeds on ridges of peace,” he further added.
Adesina was also named as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate for his roles to transform Africa’s agriculture to expand production and addressing food security of the continent.
