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The Vice-chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture
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The
Vice-chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof.
Olusola Oyewole has congratulated the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) on being
awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for
world leading research and development work on cassava.
The Queen's
Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education is a biennial award scheme,
which is within the United Kingdom’s national honours system. The award is the most
prestigious form of national recognition open to UK academic institutions.
Commenting on the
prestigious award received by the Natural Resources Institute of the University
of Greenwich, Prof. Oyewole said FUNAAB is proud to associate with the institute.
He also lauded NRI for its continued support and collaboration with his
university over the years.
He said, “Congratulations
on the Queen's Anniversary Award for Further and Higher Education to the
University of Greenwich for the Natural Resources Institute's work on cassava.
We are proud of you and glad to be associated with the NRI. Thanks for your
continued support of our collaborations over the years.”
The Director,
Natural Resources Institute, Prof. Andrew Westby, said a formal award ceremony
will be held at Buckingham Palace, United Kingdom in late February 2016. He noted
that NRI has been engaged in applied research and development to tackle
problems facing the whole cassava value chain, from farm to fork, for over 25
years. He added that CAVA projects were an important part of its submission for
the prestigious award.
According to him, “Our
submission to the Trust highlighted our work in four main areas: Overcoming
emergent diseases threatening cassava production, Adding value through
processing and business development, Managing waste within the value chain for
economic returns and Strengthening the capacity of developing-country
scientists and practitioners.”
“Central to our
approach and success has been the strength of our collaboration with our
partners around the world. The main funders of NRI’s work have been the UK’s
Department for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the European Commission, the African Union, International Fund for
Agricultural Development and CGIAR centres and programmes among others. The
CAVA projects were an important part of our submission. Although the award
is made to University of Greenwich, I really do value the collaborations that
we have had.”
In the same vein,
the Project Director, Cassava: Adding Value for Africa, Prof. Kolawole Adebayo,
also commended Natural Resources Institute (NRI) on the prestigious award it
obtained.
He said, “I am very
delighted with this news. Congratulations! I agree with you that team efforts
and dedication by all is instrumental for this recognition, but I hasten to put
it on record that your astute leadership, unparalleled dedication and unfailing
commitment to global development has been the engine room of this and other
achievements of our team.”
The first phase of
the Cassava Adding Value for Africa Project (C:AVA) was led by the Natural
Resources Institute of the University of Greenwhich, while the CAVA II Project,
led by the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta is an initiative
sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and jointly
implemented by the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich,
United Kingdom; Food Research Institute Ghana; Tanzania Food and Nutrition
Centre, Tanzania; African Innovations Institute, Uganda; Chancellor College of
the University of Malawi; The International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA) alongside several partners.
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