Professor Ademola Adelowo Adenle is a Nigerian interdisciplinary scholar, food security expert, and figure in sustainability science and innovation management. He has nearly three decades of professional experience spanning academia, as well as sustainable development research and teaching. His work involves sustainable agriculture, food security, climate change adaptation, renewable energy, public health, and innovation systems, addressing development challenges in Africa. He currently serves as Senior Special Adviser on Agricultural Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. In 2025, he became the first laureate of the inaugural TWAS–M.S. Swaminathan Award for Food and Peace.
Academic and professional career Adenle has held teaching and research positions in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany, and Nigeria, including at Covenant University. He has served as Guest Professor of Sustainability Science and Innovation Policy at the Technical University of Denmark.
He was a competitively selected fellow at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) in Japan, where he worked for more than four years as principal investigator, research fellow, and member of the teaching faculty. At UNU-IAS he led research on biosafety and governance of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Africa and contributed to the development of the Fibre–Feed–Food (F3) analytical framework.
Research Prof. Adenle's research has addressed the following areas:
Genetically modified agriculture: He led a study in GM agriculture resulting in development of F-3 framework to adopt GM products across Africa. Climate change adaptation: He led a study on climate change adaptations in Africa. Agricultural policy: He also led the first Nigeria National Agricultural Soil Management Policy through the USAID Feed the Future programme.
Awards and recognition
In 2025 Prof. Adenle received the inaugural World Academy of Sciences–M.S. Swaminathan Award for Food and Peace, presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. In 2020, he was selected as a laureate of the Next Einstein Forum (NEF). In 2022 he was the only African recipient of the Sustainability Carbon Neutrality Award. In 2023 he was a Rockefeller Food Systems finalist.https://fellowship.acumenacademy.org/foodsystems In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.
Following the 2025 award, President Bola Tinubu received him at the State House in Abuja and the National Orientation Agency named him "Nigerian of the Week".
Publications Adenle has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications. His work has appeared in journals including Nature Biotechnology, World Development, Ecological Economics, Energy Policy, and Food Policy. He has also published edited volumes with Cambridge University Press (2017) and Oxford University Press (2020).
Selected journal articles
Selected books
References Adenle, A.A.; Morris, E.J.; Parayil, G. (2013). "Status of development, regulation and adoption of GM agriculture in Africa: Views and positions of stakeholder groups". Food Policy. 43: 159–166. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.09.006.