Dr. Norman Borlaug dies, aged 95

Norman Borlaug – widely recognized as the "Father of the Green Revolution” and one of the twentieth century’s greatest humanitarians – died at home in Dallas on September 12, 2009. He was 95-years old.

In 1970 Dr. Borlaug was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for “saving more lives than anyone else in history,” and for helping to “provide bread for a hungry world.”

Three decades later, in 2001, the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was honored with the same prize – and in their respective retirements, the two became close allies in championing the African green revolution that Annan called for in 2004.

This call spurred Yara into establishing its Yara Foundation and the Yara Prize, and initiating the African Green Revolution Conference, forging relations with both Borlaug and Annan.

Agriculture scientist Borlaug began the work that gained him the Peace Prize in the mid-forties in Mexico, where he developed disease-resistant varieties of wheat that produced much more grain than traditional strains.

He and others later took those varieties and similarly improved strains of rice and corn to Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. Thanks to the Green Revolution, world food production more than doubled between 1960 and 1990. And in Pakistan and India grain yields more than quadrupled.

During the last 20 years or more of his life, Norman Borlaug continued to work tirelessly to promote an agricultural revolution in Africa. Dr. Borlaug became president of the Sasakawa Africa Association in 1986. Along with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Borlaug led the Sasakawa-Global 2000 agricultural program in sub-Saharan Africa, which helped several million farmers in 15 countries to increase food production.

He supported Yara in its campaign to foster an African Green Revolution, making key appearances at Yara Prize award ceremonies and conferences.

“Borlaug added his impressive credentials to Yara initiatives aimed at promoting agricultural productivity in Africa. Even at his considerable age, he came to Oslo to participate in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 award ceremonies, and to take an active part in the two first conferences, in 2006 and 2007,” says Arne Cartridge, Yara’s Chief Marketing & Communication Officer.

Dr Borlaug remained an active participant on the global arena until the end. One of his last public interventions published in the Wall Street Journal on July 30, was titled ‘Farmers Can Feed the World’ – reiterating his firm belief that there is only one way to feed a growing world population: by putting science to good use, improving productivity and increasing production.