UN chief to address world food prize ceremony

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to address the world food prize award ceremony later this week, a UN spokesman told reporters Monday.

The secretary-general "will be travelling to Des Moines, the US state of Iowa, on Thursday" and "will address the world food prize ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said at a daily briefing.

The laureate this year is Daniel Hillel, a scientist from Israel, for his "contribution to micro-irrigation" which is a radically new method that brings water to plants in arid and dry regions.

According to the world food prize website, Hillel revolutionized food production in Israel and other regions of the world because his work "laid the foundation for maximizing efficient water usage in agriculture, increasing crop yields, and minimizing environmental degradation."

The world food prize award ceremony was "founded in 1986 by Nobel peace prize recipient Norman Borlaug," and the prize "honors individuals who have made vital contributions to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food throughout the world," Nesirky said.

Ban will also speak at Drake University on the theme "global citizenship in a changing world" before returning to New York on Friday, Nesirky said.