Former President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra Wednesday evening for London, UK, on his way to Des Moines, Iowa, United States, to receive his prize as joint winner of the 2011 World Food Prize.

The other winner is former Brazilian President Lula da Silva who together with former President Kufuor will share the prize money of $250,000. 00

The two were honoured for supervising drastic reduction of hunger and poverty as well as implementing policies that alleviated hunger and poverty in their countries during their tenure in office.

Highlight of the five-day event will be the award ceremony at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday, 13th October 2011 which will be addressed by both laureates. The event will be beamed live on television and the internet across the world.

Former President Kufuor will deliver a 30-minute keynote address at the World Food Prize Laureate Luncheon at the Marriot Hotel on Friday, 14th October 2011 where he will be presented with the Laureate Diploma by Mr John Ruan III and Dr Kenneth Quinn, Chairman and President respectively of WFP.

Other events former President Kufuor will be engaged in include addressing a breakfast seminar on: “Getting Down to Business: Scaling Up Private Sector Investments in Africa and making Headway with Feed the Future“ organized by the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa.

He will also address a meeting on: “Challenges of Natural Resource Management for Small-scale farmers on Marginal lands” organized by the U. S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agricultural Service and hold talks with representatives of the Partnership for Child Development.

Before leaving for the US, former President Kufuor will attend the 15th Forum 2000 conference in Prague, the Czech Republic, from 9th October to 11th October 2011.

The conference on the broad theme: Democracy and the Rule of Law will be addressed by former Czech President Vaclav Havel, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obassanjo and Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economic Sciences, among others.

Former President Kufuor will speak on: ‘Perspectives of Democracy and the Rule of Law in the 21st Century. ’ He will be accompanied by his wife and former First Lady, Theresa, and is expected back on 20th October 2011.