Honourable Minister of
Agriculture and Rural
Development, Federal
Republic of Nigeria
Dr. Adesina a distinguished
agricultural development expert
with 24 years of experience in
developing and managing
successful agricultural
programs across Africa. He
graduated with Bachelors in
Agricultural Economics with
First Class Honors from the
University of Ife, Nigeria (1981),
where he was the first student
to be awarded this distinction
by the university. He obtained
his PhD (Agricultural Economics)
in 1988 from Purdue University,
USA where he won the
Outstanding PhD Thesis for his
research work.
Until his appointment as the
Honourable Minister of
Agriculture in 2010, he was the
Vice President (Policy &
Partnerships) for the Alliance
for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA). Dr. Adesina has held
senior leadership positions in
some of the foremost
agricultural institutions in the
world. He was Principal
Economist and Social Science
Coordinator for the
International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture
(1995-1998), Principal
Economist and Coordinator of
the West Africa Rice Economics
Task Force at the West Africa
Rice Development Association
(1990-1995), and Assistant
Principal Economist at the
International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics. He was Associate
Director (Food Security) at the
Rockefeller Foundation where
he worked for a decade
(1998-2008) in senior
leadership positions, including
as Regional Office Director and
Representative for Southern
Africa.
He has published extensively
and served on Editorial Board
of several leading journals. He
was the President of the African
Association of Agricultural
Economists from 2008-2010.
He has received several global
awards for his leadership and
work in agriculture. In 2007 he
was awarded the prestigious
YARA Prize in Oslo, Norway for
his leadership in pioneering
innovative approaches for
improving access of farmers in
Africa to agricultural inputs. He
was awarded the Borlaug CAST
Award in 2010 by the Council
for Agricultural Science and
Technology, USA, for his global
leadership on agricultural
science and technology. He
received the Distinguished
Alumni Award from Purdue
University in 2008, and the
Distinguished Alumni Award
from the Obafemi Awolowo
University in 2009. He was
awarded Honorary Doctor of
Humane Letters by Franklin and
Marshall College, USA, in 2010,
for his global leadership on
agriculture and improving the
lives and livelihoods of the
poor.
He was appointed by the United
Nations Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon as one of the 17 global
leaders to spearhead the
Millennium Development Goals.
His passion is to use agriculture
to end hunger, create wealth
and jobs and drive equitable
economic growth in Africa to
lift millions out of poverty.
He has brought that passion to
his native home of Nigeria, in
his position as the Federal
Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development, where he is
spearheading major reforms to
transform Nigerian agriculture.
Dr. Adesina has aggressively
implemented bold policy
reforms, ended decades of
corruption in the fertilizer
sector and pursued innovative
agricultural investment
programs to expand
opportunities for the private
sector to add value to crops
produced in Nigeria. His
passionate commitment is
driving a new wave of change
in agriculture in Nigeria,
moving it away from a
development program into a
business, to reduce
dependency on food imports,
generate wealth and create
jobs.
The President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,
recently conferred on him the
second highest National Honor
(Commander of the Order of
Niger) for his outstanding
service to his country over the
last one year. In November
2012, Dr. Adesina was named
as one of the 100 most
influential Africans by The New
African Magazine. He is married
to Grace Oluyemisi Adesina, and
they have two sons.
Ministers
English

Sincere 9gerian: @Tolexander.. I wonder why tribalists like you are wasting energy on this issue. That was really unnecessary. Forbes did not make Adeshina man of the year because of what he achieved in 1900. The reasons Forbes crowned Adeshina man of the year 2013 was stated clearly. Read the reasons in the report below:

"Forbes, who made the announcement this week, said Adesina won the prize for his bold reforms in Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
The magazine said Mr Adesina has empowered more than six million farmers across Nigeria to embrace agriculture as a business"
http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/12/04/forbes-names-nigerias-agric-minister-2013-africa-person/

As as much as you hate the president because he's not from your tribe and love Adeshina because he is your tribesman, dont forget that GEJ made him a minister of agriculture and supported him to achieve all that he is able to achieve, including the Forbes award.

Dont forget that before GEJ came to power, a certain OBJ was president for 8 years and never looked in the direction of Adeshina. Afterwards, a certain Yar Adua was president for about 3 years and also didn't look in the direction of Adeshina.

You guys should quit hating.