On July 17, Dr. Norman Borlaug, who has been called “the man who fed the world,” was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, the United States’ highest civilian award.
Dr. Borlaug, who has also won the Nobel Peace Prize, was honored for his contributions to international agricultural research and the “Green Revolution,” working with many international organizations, particularly the agricultural centers of the CGIAR. At the age of 93, Dr. Borlaug continues to work at CIMMYT.
A measure of the success of these agricultural programs is a statistic from Dr. Borlaug’s acceptance statement. “In 1960, perhaps 60 percent of the world’s people felt hunger during some portion of the year. By the year 2000, the proportion of hungry in the world had dropped to 14 percent of the total population.” Despite this great success, however, Dr. Borlaug pointed out how much still remains to be done. He continued, “Still, this figure translated to 850 million men, women and children who lacked sufficient calories and protein to grow strong and healthy bodies.”
CGNET knows Dr. Borlaug as a CGNET email user since 1983, the year of CGNET’s founding. He is not only a great pioneer in the field of international agriculture, but also in the use of international email.
More information about Dr. Borlaug and the award can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/print/20070717-1.html.
Dr. Borlaug, who has also won the Nobel Peace Prize, was honored for his contributions to international agricultural research and the “Green Revolution,” working with many international organizations, particularly the agricultural centers of the CGIAR. At the age of 93, Dr. Borlaug continues to work at CIMMYT.
A measure of the success of these agricultural programs is a statistic from Dr. Borlaug’s acceptance statement. “In 1960, perhaps 60 percent of the world’s people felt hunger during some portion of the year. By the year 2000, the proportion of hungry in the world had dropped to 14 percent of the total population.” Despite this great success, however, Dr. Borlaug pointed out how much still remains to be done. He continued, “Still, this figure translated to 850 million men, women and children who lacked sufficient calories and protein to grow strong and healthy bodies.”
CGNET knows Dr. Borlaug as a CGNET email user since 1983, the year of CGNET’s founding. He is not only a great pioneer in the field of international agriculture, but also in the use of international email.
More information about Dr. Borlaug and the award can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/print/20070717-1.html.
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