Ethiopia Honors Former President Jimmy Carter, Chairman Yohei Sasakawa, and Dr. Norman Borlaug
David Tharp
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation
All Three Played Major Roles In Ethiopia’s Agricultural Success
Indepth Articles
[Aug. 06, 2010]
Former U.S. President Carter and President Girma of Ethiopia
(This article is based on an original story written in Japanese by Natsuko Tominaga.)
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, The Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa, and the late Dr. Norman Borlaug were honored with the Ethiopian government’s “Millennium Gold Medal” at a ceremony in Addis Ababa for their contributions to projects to increase food production in Ethiopia.
The Millennium Gold Medal awards reception room
In awarding the medals to President Carter, Chairman Sasakawa, and the family of the late Dr Borlaug, Ethiopian President Girma said his country’s food production has increased 10% annually for the last five years due to the agricultural support given through the Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG 2000) program by Carter, Sasakawa, and Borlaug.
President Girma
The award ceremony was held at the presidential palace in Addis Ababa and was attended by Carter and Sasakawa, who were presented with the medals and accompanying certificates by President Girma. Dr Borlaug’s medal was received by Katsu Iwanaga, Vice President of the Sasakawa Africa Association, on behalf of the Borlaug family.
Chairman Sasakawa receives his medal and memorabilia from President Girma
In pointing out that Ethiopia’s agricultural sector has increased production by 10% for the last 5 years, President Girma said this would not have been possible without the assistance of the SG 2000 project. He added that thanks to SG 2000 support for African countries, Ethiopia had experienced a dramatic, continuous rise in development, and praised the achievements of this program.
Ethiopian Agricultural Minister Tefera, who also attended the award ceremony, said SG 2000 built a solid foundation for the rapid development of Ethiopian agriculture.
On behalf of the award recipients, President Carter said the agricultural development was achieved by the efforts of the Ethiopian people and government. It’s a wonderful achievement, he said. Carter added that he was honored to be involved in the project.
Carter, Sasakawa, and Iwanaga cutting the celebration cake
The SG 2000 project was launched by The Nippon Foundation to teach African farmers modern farming methods and ways of increasing crop production in oder for them to escape from a cycle of poverty and hunger.
Dr Borluag won the Nobel Peace Prize for his technical leadership and assistance in Asia’s “Green Revolution.” Then with the cooperation of former President Carter in 1986 a similar project was introduced in Ghana and the Sudan.
After that agricultural assistance projects were expanded to over a dozen African countries including Ethiopia, Mali, Uganda, and Nigeria.