The Board of Trustees of Al-Sumait Prize for African Development, chaired by His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, announced that the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Dr. Catherine Nakalembe were joint winners of the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development for the year 2022 in the field of food security, in recognition of their distinguished achievements in this vital field on the African continent.
According to the Board of Trustees, the AATF, chaired by Professor Aggrey Ambali, and based in Kenya, won the Prize for its success in enabling small farmers in African countries to obtain and use appropriate agricultural technologies as required to address challenges related to productivity, marketing, climate change resilience and health risks.
The Board added that Dr. Catherine Nakalembe, from Uganda, won the Prize for being a distinguished expert in the field of crop mapping and monitoring, using remote sensing and machine learning techniques. She also leads NASA Harvest Africa program at the University of Maryland, which provides methods and systems to smallholder farmers in Africa, enhancing their skills.
On its part, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), which supervises the Prize, stated that AATF, winner of the Prize, has demonstrated a long-term positive impact and introduced innovative programs for many Africans, in addition to its creative response to food security issues and challenges.
KFAS also added that, through this Prize, the State of Kuwait has provided assistance to organizations working in and for Africa to distinguish themselves through their exemplary and effective projects and programs, not to mention their dedication to improving food security for communities across Africa. According to KFAS, the Prize, the current year, received 51 nominations from 22 countries.
The Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and member of the Prize’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, said that the work and research that contribute to enhancing food security, health and education in Africa send a ray of hope in the flux of global crises we are all living through.
Dr. Elouafi, expressed her congratulations to the winners of the Prize, namely the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Dr. Catherine Nakalembe, pointing out that developing new innovations and expanding their scope to include small producers in Africa is an essential issue for eliminating hunger and poverty and improving the livelihoods of producers in Africa, adding that the winners contribute to inspiring many individuals and institutions to exert further efforts towards building a better Africa.
It is noteworthy that the annual Al-Sumait Prize for African Development was launched at the noble initiative of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, may Allah rest his soul, during the Arab African Summit hosted by Kuwait in 2013. Launching the Prize came in honor of the late Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait, the Kuwaiti doctor who devoted his life to address the challenges related to health, education and food security facing Africa.
The Prize aims to recognize and appreciate the best studies, scientific projects, applied research and initiatives that have a significant impact on the advancement of economic, social and human resources and the development of infrastructure on the African continent.
