Professor Mary Abukutsa Onyango of Kenya and Dr. Mercy Diebiru-Ojo of Nigeria have been named joint laureates of the 2025 Africa Food Prize, the continent’s most prestigious annual award celebrating innovation in agriculture and food systems.
The US$100,000 award, announced at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, recognises individuals and institutions transforming farming from subsistence into thriving businesses.
Since its establishment in 2016 as a successor to the Yara Prize, the Africa Food Prize has spotlighted initiatives capable of being replicated across the continent.
Professor Abukutsa Onyango, a horticultural scientist at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, has spent more than three decades researching and promoting African leafy vegetables such as amaranth, spider plant, and African nightshade.
Her work has influenced national health policies, registered new varieties, and positioned these crops as nutritious superfoods that tackle malnutrition while offering resilient income-generating options for farmers.
“This award belongs to the countless farmers, students, and scientists who have kept indigenous knowledge alive and adapted it to modern needs,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“My vision is that every African household can access diverse, nutritious food grown from our own biodiversity.”
Dr. Diebiru-Ojo, founder of GoSeed Ltd in Nigeria, is being honoured for her pioneering work in cassava and yam seed systems.
She adapted and commercialised Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponic (SAH) technology to deliver millions of disease-free planting materials. This innovation has doubled yields, empowered seed enterprises, and strengthened value chains in Nigeria and beyond.
“Women-led enterprises are shifting how Africa grows, buys, and eats food,” said Dr. Wanjiru Kamau Rutenberg, a member of the Prize Committee.
“Prof. Abukutsa Onyango’s work advances healthier meals and reliable income for growers, while Dr. Diebiru-Ojo’s seed systems give farmers a clean start each season and a fair shot at higher productivity.”
Jakaya Kikwete, Chair of the Africa Food Prize Committee and former President of Tanzania, hailed the winners as “embodying the very best of African innovation, demonstrating that true transformation lies not only in major crops but also in elevating the seeds, systems, and knowledge that sustain our continent’s future.”
The Africa Food Prize, sponsored by AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), is the only award dedicated solely to agriculture and food systems on the continent.
It celebrates Africans who are driving food security, economic opportunity, and prosperity through bold leadership and innovation.
