Melaku Worede: Solving Hunger Indigenously

Born in Shewa Province in 1936, Worede pursued his passion for plant science to the United States, earning a PhD in agronomy from the University of Nebraska before returning home to serve his nation. His greatest legacy began in 1979 when he took the helm of Ethiopia’s Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Addis Ababa. Over the next 14 years, he and his entirely Ethiopian staff built what became widely recognized as Africa’s finest genebank and one of the premier genetic conservation systems in the world, amassing over 80,000 accessions of more than 100 crop species.

Yet Worede understood that seeds cannot be preserved solely as static specimens in cold storage. The catastrophic drought and famine of 1984 devastated farmlands and wiped out countless traditional varieties that farmers had cultivated for generations. In response, Worede launched a national seed collection mission to rescue the remaining diversity. More importantly, he developed what he called the Ethiopian approach, a strategy of conservation through use that would influence agricultural policy worldwide. Instead of locking seeds away in vaults, he created Strategic Seed Reserves of traditional varieties that could be released back to farmers during times of crisis. He believed that diversity survives only when it is planted, harvested, and adapted continuously by the people who depend on it.