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Dr Mabaya, who hails from Mutare, was among three people who received an award for “dedicated service and contribution towards sustainable development in Africa” on May 23 at a ceremony to celebrate Africa Day in Atlanta, United States.

The award recognised Dr Mabaya’s contributions to sustainable development in Africa through teaching, research and outreach efforts. He conducts applied research on seed systems, agribusiness management and the role of efficient agricultural markets in Africa’s economic development.

Through his outreach efforts, Dr Mabaya is involved in several programmes that seek to improve the lives of African farmers through private enterprise.

He teaches “Making Markets Matter”, an executive agribusiness training programme for African agribusinesses working in agricultural input supply and output processing.

Dr Mabaya also founded and co-ordinates the “Seeds of Development Programme”, an innovative network designed to improve access to appropriate and affordable seeds for low-income smallholder farmers through business development services for locally owned seed companies in eight African countries including Zimbabwe.

He is the assistant director at the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development and Research Associate in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.

The annual event that showcases African culture was graced by more than 250 people from Coca-Cola and the Greater Atlanta area including Coca-Cola vice president Mr Alex Cummings and Dr Vuvu Manseka, who chairs the Coca-Cola African Diaspora Network.