Andrew Mude making a presentation to the agricultural development community at ILRI headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya, on 30 Aug 2016 (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan)

Kenyan scientist Andrew Mude won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application on Tuesday for developing livestock insurance, using state-of-the-art technologies, for herders in East Africa’s drylands.

‘”I am confident that with insurance and the related complementary services, the boom and bust cycle will come to an end,” said Mude, principal economist at the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). . . .

‘Droughts regularly decimate herds across Africa, forcing destitute families to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and settle in remote, dusty towns where they fall deeper into poverty.

Over 16,000 Kenyan households have already benefited from ILRI’s index-based insurance scheme, which provides herders with a payout when rains fail, rather than waiting for animals to die, Mude said.

‘Compensation is calculated using satellite images to compare current forage levels with historical data. . . .

‘There are more than 50 million herders across Africa and many of them could benefit from the technology, according to a statement by the World Food Prize, which was created by Borlaug—famous for developing wheat varieties that drove the Green Revolution in the last half of the 20th century. . . .

‘Since its launch in Kenya in 2010, livestock insurance has also been rolled out in Ethiopia, with plans to test similar schemes in west and southern Africa, the statement said.

‘Kenya’s government lent its support to the project in October, following up on a 2013 election pledge to provide national livestock insurance.

From thinking pastoralism was a ‘dying and inefficient’ production system, government now sees it as well suited to the challenges of the arid lands, Mude said.

‘The government is paying premiums of eight percent to 12 percent for 5,000 households in northern Kenya, each with livestock worth around $700, Mude said. . . .

‘Almost 300 herders in the drought-hit north received some $120 each in insurance payouts last Wednesday, Mude said.

‘We’re now planning to replicate this novel insurance scheme across all of northern Kenya, where some four million pastoralists depend primarily on livestock’, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for agriculture, livestock and fisheries, Willy Bett, said in the statement.

‘Households using insurance are less likely to sell off their livestock in distress when prices are low during droughts, or to reduce the nutritional intake of children aged below five, and report a greater sense of wellbeing, Mude said.

‘With improved access to roads, mobile phone networks and banking services, herders are starting to develop businesses to “build themselves out of poverty”, he said.

‘The award, named after the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner, recognizes science-based achievements in the fight to end global hunger and poverty.’

Read the whole article by Katy Migiro at the Thomson Reuters Foundation site: Kenya close to ending drought crises, says local scientist award winner, 30 Aug 2016.

About the Norman Borlaug award for Field Research and Application
An independent jury of experts chaired by Dr Ronnie Coffman selected Dr Mude from an impressive group of candidates who were evaluated based on the attributes and accomplishments that reflect those demonstrated by Dr Norman Borlaug during his work at the Rockefeller Foundation and as a scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat in Mexico and introducing adaptable wheat varieties into India and Pakistan during the 1950s and 60s, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. More details at www.worldfoodprize.org/borlaugfieldaward/

About the World Food Prize
The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug. It is the foremost international award recognizing individuals whose achievements have advanced human development by increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. The prize was endowed by the Ruan family of Des Moines, Iowa. Businessman John Ruan III now serves as chairman of the foundation and Ambassador Kenneth M Quinn, former US ambassador to Cambodia, is the president of the organization. A selection committee of experts from around the world oversees the nomination and selection process and is chaired by Prof MS Swaminathan, of India, who was also honoured as the first World Food Prize Laureate. Other past prize winners include former President of Ghana John Kufour, US senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, Professor Yuan Longping of China and former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme Catherine Bertini.

Media contact
Michelle Geis | Director of Africa Burness, ILRI | mgeis@burness.com | +254 711 326 770

More information
More information will be posted here soon. To view a film of the whole event, go to http://www.ilri.org/livestream

Photographs of the event are on ILRI’s Flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/albums/72157669992212163

View the original press release, by Nicole Barreca, from the World Food Prize Foundation, here: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm/24667/39777/the_world_food_prize_recognizes_kenyan_economist

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Kenya is on its way to breaking the devastating cycle of drought, poverty and hunger over the next decade, a leading scientist said as he was named winner of a prestigious award. Kenyan scientist Andrew Mude won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application on Tuesday for developing livestock insurance, using state-of-the-art…

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Kenya close to ending drought crises, says local scientist award winner
sports.yahoo.com | Katy Migiro | 08/30/2016
By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenya is on its way to breaking the devastating cycle of drought, poverty and hunger over the next decade, a leading scientist said as he was named winner of a prestigious award.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com | Kelly McGowan | 08/30/2016
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Kenyan Wins 2016 Norman Borlaug Award For Field Research And Application
http://www.modernghana.com | Samuel Hinneh | 08/30/2016
A Kenyan research scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute based in Nairobi has won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application for his work in providing insurance to livestock herders in East Africa’s drylands through innovative, state-of-the art technologies.