Mercy Diebiru-Ojo

In September 2025 Dr Mercy Diebiru-Ojo shared the US$100,000 Africa Food Prize, announced at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, for transforming cassava and yam seed systems with disease-free planting material and higher yields. She adopted Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics, a nursery method that rapidly multiplies healthy plants, first for cassava and then for yam, and the technology is now used in more than 15 African countries.