World Food Prize goes to founder of anti-poverty group

WASHINGTON — Sir Fazle Hasan Abed had a prestigious career working for Shell Oil in 1970 when a cyclone devastated his native Bangladesh, prompting him to abandon his corporate job and dedicate his life to working with women and other poor people in his home country who are struggling to lift themselves out of poverty.

"It was the shocking experience that woke me up to another kind of existence," said Abed, honored Wednesday as the 2015 recipient of the World Food Prize, which comes with a $250,000 award. "It opened my eyes that the kind of life I was leading was pointless, and I have to do something about the fragile lives of poor people."

Abed sold his home in London to start the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, now known as BRAC, in 1972 and focus on giving women the social and economic tools to help themselves and their communities.

By helping village and farm women, he believed they could learn to grow their own crops, start their own businesses and spread knowledge to other people.

BRAC expanded from Bangladesh to 10 other poor countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Philippines. The non-governmental organization's agriculture and food security programs have helped an estimated 500,000-plus farmers access better farming and livestock techniques, new technologies and financial support.

"By focusing on women we have been able to get Bangladesh doing much better than neighboring countries like India and Pakistan," said Abed, 79. "We provided support and worked together with the government to deliver change in our society."

The World Food Prize will be presented to Abed Oct. 15 in Des Moines. He did not attend the announcement in Washington Wednesday.

Winners of the World Food Prize include former presidents, lawmakers and researchers from around the world. The prize, viewed by many as the Nobel Prize for agriculture, was created by Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize an individual whose work has helped improve the quality, quantity or availability of food throughout the world.

BRAC, which is based in Bangladesh, with operations in Amsterdam, New York and other cities, now employs more than 110,000 people and has become the largest non-governmental organization in the world.

It is largely self-funded through its network of commercial enterprises ranging from retail outlets, banking, poultry and dairy operations, seed production and dissemination and a hotel.

The group's financial freedom allows it to deploy its resources into other areas such as education and health care services as it sees fit, leaving it less likely to be distracted by the agenda of its donors.

Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize, said Abed's selection was reflective of the growing importance the organization has placed in recent years on honoring laureates who focus on educating girls and empowering women to help curb poverty and hunger.

"It's a marvelous fit for what has been one of the themes at the World Food Prize," Quinn said in an interview. "When you look back over 40 years, the number of persons who have been given the opportunity to enhance their food security, improve their lives and have a pathway out of poverty (because of Abed and BRAC) is an estimated 150 million."

Abed was born in northeastern Bangladesh in 1936 to a prominent family that was heavily involved in the region's fledgling government.

He studied naval architecture at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London. Abed returned to Bangladesh to work for Shell Oil in 1969, and in two years became head of accounting.

But his life as a corporate executive was short-lived. Bangladesh was ravaged by a deadly cyclone that washed away farms, villages and towns.

A nine-month war with Pakistan soon followed, resulting in Bangladesh's independence. The combined death toll from the storm and the war was estimated at more than 3 million people, with hundreds of thousands more left homeless and poor.

Abed, who was knighted by the British crown in 2010, said he was "delighted" to receive the prize and will use the award money to help support BRAC. He was hopeful the award would further energize BRAC's staff and give them additional motivation to help alleviate poverty and hunger around the world.

"They would be very proud of this achievement ... and feel the pride of being recognized worldwide," Abed said. "I never take any of the prizes that I have received. It is to BRAC that the (World Food Prize) is given, not to me."

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