A Kenyan horticultural scientist, Prof Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, has been named this year’s Africa Food Prize (AFP) Laureate, in recognition of her pioneering work on African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) and her decades-long advocacy for sustainable food systems.
The announcement was made on September 3, 2025, during the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, Senegal.
Prof Abukutsa-Onyango, a Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) lecturer in the Department of Horticulture and Food Security, shares the $100,000 award with Nigerian seed innovator Dr Mercy Diebiru-Ojo.
“Professor Abukutsa-Onyango’s legacy is the mainstreaming of indigenous crops, offering sustainable solutions to hidden hunger and ensuring that Africa’s biodiversity is recognised as a global asset,” said former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, who chairs the Africa Food Prize Committee.
“Her lifelong dedication has transformed public perception of indigenous vegetables while improving farmer livelihoods and food systems across Africa.”
The Africa Food Prize, awarded annually, is the continent’s most prestigious recognition of individuals and institutions leading efforts to transform African agriculture.
It honours achievements ranging from innovative farming practices and research breakthroughs to policy advocacy and agribusiness models that can be replicated to drive food security.
By spotlighting innovations that create lasting impact, the prize highlights the vision, dedication, and creativity required to address Africa’s urgent food security challenges.
Prof Mary Abukutsa-Onyango displays cooked vegetables and other food at Githunguri Level V hospital in Kiambu County on June 24, 2025 during the African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture meeting for teenage mothers.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation
For over three decades, Prof Abukutsa-Onyango has championed vegetables once dismissed as ‘poor man’s food’, proving their immense nutritional value and resilience.
Her research on crops such as amaranth (terere), spider plant (saga), and African nightshade (managu) has influenced national nutrition policies, improved biodiversity conservation, and created market opportunities for smallholder farmers.
After receiving the award, Prof Abukutsa-Onyango noted that the recognition would help people realise that traditional vegetables are a “goldmine for Africa to be harvested for Africans and for the world”.
“Being a Laureate of the Africa Food Prize, I feel humbled and encouraged because AIVs have been undervalued for too long.”
She added that the award would bolster ongoing research and advocacy. “My vision is to establish centres of knowledge in African countries to document and revive indigenous vegetables—even those that have disappeared—so that we can bring them back to the table for Africa and the world.”
Currently, Prof Abukutsa-Onyango leads a JKUAT-led consortium with partners, including IREN Growthpad, the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
The group is scaling up the production of jute mallow (mrenda) and African nightshade (managu) in Kiambu and Kakamega counties using climate-smart technologies.
Recently, the academic led an awareness campaign on AIVs consumption among young mothers at Githunguri Sub-County Hospital in Kiambu.
She has also praised the Kenyan government’s efforts to commercialise research outcomes through the National Research Fund (NRF), which in 2023 began supporting innovators in food and nutrition security to connect with investors and markets.
She says that when farmers have the right information, they can add value to their products, reduce poverty and create wealth in line with Kenya Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Prof Abukutsa-Onyango has received numerous accolades, including the Kenya National Outstanding Research Award (2024), the African Union Top Woman Scientist Award (2009), and the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) in 2010.
A former Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Extension and Production at JKUAT, she holds a PhD in Horticultural Sciences from the University of London and has authored more than 100 publications, including books and peer-reviewed articles.
Her recognition as the 2025 Africa Food Prize Laureate cements her place as one of Africa’s foremost champions of indigenous crops, food security and sustainable agriculture.
On the other hand, the Nigerian seed innovator Dr Mercy Diebiru-Ojo, who shares the award with Prof Abukutsa-Onyango, has been honoured by the Africa Food Prize for her outstanding contributions to advancing Africa’s agricultural transformation through the widespread promotion of a novel node culture technology for cassava and yam called Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH).
Dr Diebiru-Ojo’s work is shaping a new frontier in rapid crop multiplication, transforming SAH from a scientific breakthrough into a scalable enterprise model that directly benefits farmers and seed entrepreneurs across sub-Saharan Africa.
The technology accelerates the production of clean, disease-free planting materials, ensuring that improved varieties of cassava and yam—two crops that feed hundreds of millions of Africans, reach farmers faster and more efficiently.
