Kenyan wins top award in US

PHOTO | SAM WARUTERE World Food Prize Foundation President Kenneth Quinn with Dr Charity Kawira Mutegi on the steps of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on October 17, 2013.

What you need to know:

  • Dr Charity Kawira Mutegi was one of four people honoured with the World Food Prize Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation
  • Dr Mutegi was honoured alongside three other scientists Marc Van Montagu of Belgium, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T Fraley of the United States

African songs and ululations rent the air last week on Wednesday in the usually quiet midwestern city of Des Moines, Iowa.

In a scene reminiscent of a traditional ceremony somewhere in Africa, a woman clad in a flowing green dress stood on stage while another five women fitted her with a headdress and a waist cloth and placed a kiondo on her head.

That sounds like a Kenyan ceremony, but the music is being sung by a South Sudan songbird, the dance troupes are Togolese, the beauty pageant is from Botswana and the gospel choir is Burundian.

Dr Charity Kawira Mutegi was one of four people honoured with the World Food Prize Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Hundreds of Iowans, the majority of them Africans from at least 16 countries, put on an after-party in her honour dubbed “Celebrate the daughter of Africa”.

On the cold autumn evening, song and dance, a parade and a hot, spicy West African style dinner were the perfect way to keep warm and have fun.

At one point, the World Food Prize Foundation President Kenneth Quinn had to stop his speech when a Liberian troupe surged onto the stage, drums rolling and chants renting the air, only to quickly exit from the other side.

“Oh-oh,” he said, “I hope I didn’t say anything bad!”

The crowd burst into laughter because they understood it was just a part of having fun in the unscripted African way.

In her speech, Dr Mutegi said the award was an honour, not only to her but to other scientists who are making efforts to improve world food security. She described herself as coming from a humble background and working in rural areas where she still hopes that a solution to food security exists.

BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVEMENTS

Dr Mutegi was honoured alongside three other scientists Marc Van Montagu of Belgium, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T Fraley of the United States.

They will share the 2013 World Food Prize for their independent, individual breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology. The ceremony was attended by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ghanaian Roman CatholicCardinal Peter Turkson.

Dr Mutegi has done extensive research on aflatoxin, the naturally occurring mould that causes aflatoxicosis in grain and is toxic to people and livestock who consume it.

Dr Mutegi spearheaded efforts to identify the cause of, and a solution to a deadly outbreak of aflatoxicosis in 2004-05 that proved fatal to 125 people in eastern Kenya who consumed contaminated grain.

She is currently leading efforts to develop a biocontrol product in Kenya that can be used to significantly reduce aflatoxin levels in maize.
“Dr Mutegi is an inspiration to other young scientists around the world. She tackled a critical problem and has effectively transferred her own scientific knowledge to farmers and policymakers to help improve food safety for the entire region,” Ambassador Quinn said.

In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Dr Mutegi said: “Food security is the only way we can begin our journey to industrialisation. Look at all developed countries and you will see that the development of infrastructure and water systems was initially to improve food security.”

“Without a solution to producing and moving food, we are stuck in a vicious cycle of drought and bountifulness. General insecurity is directly proportional to food insecurity.”

She grew up in Chuka, Meru County and initially wanted to be a shopkeeper “just because I had a sweet tooth”. Her love of science, however, developed at an early age.

Dr Mutegi serves as the Kenya Country Coordinator for the Aflasafe Project at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).