Dr. Kalibata has served as the President of AGRA since 2014, where she leads the organization’s
Long-serving AGRA President Dr Agnes Kalibata is this year’s winner of the prestigious Justus Von Liebig World Nutrition Award for her role in transforming global food systems and nutrition. The award is given biennially by the Foundation fiat panis to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving world Nutrition.
Dr Kalibata was presented with the award at a ceremony hosted by the University of Hohenheim in Germany last week. Hohenheim University is recognized globally as a leading institution for Agricultural Research and Food Science. The awarding panel lauded her outstanding contribution as an authentic policymaker, scientist, and global thought leader advocating for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems in Africa. Over the past 10 years, has led AGRA in working through Governments, and public and private partners to identify systemic constraints in the agri-food system across 12 African countries.
Considered the Nobel Prize equivalent in Food and Nutrition circles and named after Justus Von Liebig – a German scientist acclaimed as the father of physiological and agricultural chemistry – it is a crowning moment for a meritorious career for the Rwandese-born technocrat who before taking the helm at AGRA was Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources.
“This prestigious recognition not only acknowledges the hard work and dedication of countless individuals but also underscores the critical importance of our mission to ensure food security and nutrition for all. It strengthens our resolve to continue working tirelessly towards innovative solutions that address the challenges of food insecurity and climate change”, she told the applauding audience at Hohenheim University.
In 2021, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres appointed Dr Kalibata as Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), a catalytic process at the start of the Decade of Action to improve food systems around the world to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement.
The UNFSS sought to address changes needed at all levels and among all stakeholders for food systems to contribute to the accelerated realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, commonly known as SDGs 2030. The efforts of her leadership as food Systems envoy shaped the food narrative thereby reframing AGRA’s approach to food production—from farm to waste—responsive to both shocks and opportunities.
As a multi-stakeholder convening platform for dialogues with national government representatives, private sector, non-state actors, Indigenous communities, farmers, women, and the youth among others, it convened over 1,600 multistakeholder dialogues, was coordinated by over 151 national conveners and attracted over 110,000 participants reaching over 3.5 billion people. Its objective of intensifying action on food systems has created a sustainable mechanism through which national governments can drive their existing strategies, plans, and priorities – dubbed Pathways.
“That work has provided governments with avenues for driving the nexus of food & environment, food & climate change, food & health, food and water, and interrelatedness and interconnectedness with education, security, energy, financial systems, and gender among others. I am deeply proud of this accomplishment and dedicate this award to my colleagues, our partners, and the resilient smallholder farmers across the continent whose unwavering commitment and collaboration drive change and inspire hope for future generations”.
