Kenyan alum wins Borlaug field award


Mude

Economist and Cornell alumnus Andre Mude, Ph.D. ’06, has won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, the World Food Prize Foundation announced Aug. 30. Mude is an economist with the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mude, 39, received the award for his work to provide insurance to livestock herders in East Africa’s drylands through innovative, state-of-the-art technologies. Satellites monitor grazing conditions, and when the conditions fall below a certain threshold, the data serve as a proxy for animal deaths, allowing insurance payouts to be made.

Endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, the $10,000 award for individuals under the age of 40 will be presented at the 2016 World Food Prize international symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 12.

More information on the award can be found here

– Krishna Ramanujan