Hundreds of New Patriotic Party supporters thronged the Kotoka International Airport on Sunday night June 27, amidst drumming and dancing to welcome home former President Kufour from the United States where he was named a recipient of the 2011 World Food Prize.
Leading members of the NPP including the party’s 2012 Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, joined to welcome Mr. Kufour.
Some of the supporters held placards with the inscriptions “Cocoa Farmers Congratulate You President Kufour”, “NPP is the best party” and many others.
President Kufour expressed joy at the warmth reception given him at the Airport.
“I am grateful to Ghanaians for appreciating this Award. It is a great honour to our country and I am very excited that I led my Government to fight hunger leading to the award. So I thank Ghanaians and my party supporters”.
Former President Kufour also spoke about some projects that will benefit from the money he is expected to receive from the award.
“At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, I initiated the building of a Presidential Library and Museum. And at the University of Ghana, authorities there have provided land for the establishment of the Centre for Leadership, Governance and Development. I believe if these projects are properly executed, they will be beneficial to our children. Money from the award will not be enough so I still need Ghanaians to support me”.
The World Food Prize Foundation is honouring Mr. Kufuor, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil, for creating and implementing government policies that alleviated hunger and poverty in their countries.
They were commended in remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah.
Former president Kufuor is been commended for leading Ghana to become the first sub-Saharan African country to cut in half the proportion of its people who suffer from hunger, and the proportion of people living on less than a dollar per day, on course to meet UN Millennium Development Goal 1.
Continuing Ghana’s tradition of stability, President Kufuor prioritized national agricultural policies: Ghana saw a reduction in its poverty rate from 51.7 percent in 1991 to 26.5 percent in 2008, and hunger was reduced from 34 percent in 1990 down to 9 percent in 2004.
Speaking to the Citi News on Wednesday June 22, President Kufuor said the impact of his government’s policy on agriculture has been crucial for Ghana’s food security.
President Kufuor and his counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil, will be formally awarded the World Food Prize at the 25th Anniversary Laureate Award Ceremony at the Iowa State Capital on October 13 2011, in conjunction with the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, themed “The Next Generation: Confronting the Hunger Challenges of Tomorrow.”
The World Food Prize was created in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, to recognize individuals who have contributed landmark achievements in increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
Source: Citifmonline.com/Ghana
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