By John Oyuke
The Chairman of Equity Bank Peter Munga has won the 2009 Yara Prize.
Munga won the prize, awarded for contribution to African Green Revolution, for his role in transforming small-scale agriculture in the continent.
He will receive the prize in Oslo, Norway, on September 5, at a ceremony to be hosted by Yara International, a global firm specialising in agricultural products and environmental protection agents.
The Yara Prize supports and directs attention to efforts made to fight poverty and hunger in Africa and recognises concrete projects, which leads to improvements in food production, availability and security.
Munga was awarded the prize by Yara Foundation, established in 2005 by Yara International, jointly with the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi.
The Foundation supports former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s call for an African green revolution and the UN Millennium Project’s goal of halving poverty and hunger in Africa by 2015. The Prize consists of $100,000 (Sh7.7 million at current exchange rate) endowment, a crystal trophy and a diploma to be received by each laureate.
Confirming the award Munga noted the odds, which African farmers are up against.
beat the odds
"I would like to dedicate this prize to farmers in Africa who, despite the harsh economic conditions, continue to feed the continent. This is also a wake up call to African countries to devote more money to agriculture to boost food production," Munga said in a statement on Wednesday.
Munga is renowned entrepreneur whose dedication to the unbanked poor has enabled millions of smallholder farmers’ access affordable credit facilities.
As the founder of Equity Bank, he has seen the organisation move from a small village-based building society, to a fully listed commercial bank that is home to more than half of all bank accounts in Kenya.
Arne Cartridge, Secretary General of the Yara Foundation said the joint winners have shown that sustainable efforts can improve the agriculture-led economies of Africa.
