Young Kenyan researcher wins World Food Prize

Thirty-eight-year-old Kenyan researcher Charity Kawira Mutegi has become the first African to claim the Norman Borlaug Award for field research and applications endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation.

The award, also known as the World Food Prize, recognises researchers under the age of 40 who emulate the scientific innovation and dedication to food security demonstrated by the Nobel Prize laureate Dr Norman Boarlaug.

Mutegi, PhD, who currently serves as the Kenya country coordinator for the Aflasave Project for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), was named as winner on Thursday at a gala function in Maputo, Mozambique, where the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) held its annual meeting this year.

However, the $10 000 (about K3.3 million) award will be officially presented to her in Des Moires, Ohio, United States of America on October 16 during the World Food Day as part of this year’s World Food Prize international symposium.

Mutegi was recognised for her research in combating aflatoxin, a naturally occurring mould usually found in grains and meat products, which is said to be a major concern for farmers and consumers worldwide. It also remains one of the challenges that is said to have been crippling Africa’s agriculture.

She has since come up with a biocontrol product in Kenya that can be used to significantly reduce aflotoxin levels in maize by between 70 and 80 percent and in legumes in the African region called Aflasafe KE01.

In her acceptance speech, Mutegi expressed gratitude to have been recognised for her efforts.

Malawi is set to benefit from Mutegi’s scientifc breakthrough as the country lost its peanut export market to the west-–which it used to dominate in the 1990s due to increased aflatox in content in the produce over the years.

Rockefeller Foundation managing director for Africa, Mamadou Biteye, praised Mutegi for her feat, saying it will go a long way in making Africa attain food security.

Experts have since backed the microbial pesticide currently being developed by Mutegi and her team, calling it both effective and affordable as its effects last multiple growing seasons once applied in a field. They add it is also natural and environmentally safe.

The technology is currently being tested in 10 African countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Kenya.