Award motivation 2011

The theme for the 2011 Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development is “Sustainable food supply”. Cultivated land is essential to the development of society but competition for land to cultivate is becoming much more intense. The need for food is expected to grow by some 70 percent by 2050 and there are already a billion undernourished people on the planet today. Africa is the continent with the most difficult conditions, where the soil has been depleted and productivity in farming is low. At the same time some good examples are showing it’s possible to change this trend by increasing productivity through ecological and sustainably social and financial means which can make agriculture the motor behind development in society.

This year’s prize of one million Swedish krona is awarded to the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, who has become a leader of Africa’s green revolution and the Tigray Project, which is an excellent example of local initiative in Ethiopia.

Since Kofi Annan’s tenure as Secretary-General he has used his stature, leadership and network to become a positive force in Africa’s development, focusing on the importance of agriculture in this process. Kofi Annan has acted as a bridge between Western capital and knowledgeable, good local initiatives in Africa. An example of this is his strong engagement for a green revolution on Africa’s own terms which, among other things, has been critical in the development of AGRA. In a short time this organization has taken a leading role in the work to materialize the vision of an Africa with a better standard of living and a food supply chain that functions well. Since 2006 AGRA has successfully launched a broad, systematic process to create the basis for economic development starting with small-scale farming, which is normally run by women and involves many people.

Kofi Annan has throughout his life and work fought poverty and worked for a sustainable future with exceptional persistence. He is an inspiration to us all.

The Tigray Project in northern Ethiopia receives the award for its long term and systematic work to develop sustainable farming built on local resources. Since 1996 the Tigray Project has resolutely worked in an area with impoverished soils, hit hard by erosion and droughts, to turn the tide.  The project is aimed small farmers, in particular women who cultivate small plots of land. It has resulted in agriculture that generates larger harvests and greater incomes while raising ground water levels, soil fertility and biodiversity.

The cooperation between the area’s farmers and national experts is a good exchange of knowledge and experience which increases the knowledge and competence of everyone involved. The Tigray Project’s success has earned it international attention, and experience gained from the project is now being spread in 165 districts in the grain belt of Ethiopia.