We are sad to pass on news of the death of our long-term Trustee, Professor Anthony Youdeowei. Born in Nigeria in 1937, he qualified as an entomologist at the University of Ibadan, then in 1967 gained a PhD in Agricultural Entomology at the University of London. Returning to Nigeria, he became Head of the Department of Agricultural Biology at the University of Ibadan, then Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and Acting Vice Chancellor. Later Anthony took on the role of Executive Director of the university’s publishing house, reflecting his long-term commitment to making information on good pest management strategies readily available to farmers.
Anthony’s dedication to practical pest management strategies drew him to leave academia and become Director of Training and Communications at the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA, now Africa Rice) in Cote d’Ivoire. In 1997, he moved to the Africa Regional Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Accra, Ghana, as a Consultant Senior Integrated Pest Management Specialist.
We first met Anthony at the FAO Accra office in 2000. Dr Stephanie Williamson was carrying out field research on pesticide impacts on smallholder farmers growing pineapples, cotton and cowpeas. Anthony set up meetings with a range of key Ghanaian institutes and shared his personal contacts to support the work. From this first contact with Stephanie, Anthony contributed freely of his knowledge and contacts. We were delighted when in 2002 he agreed to join our Board of Trustees. PAN UK valued Anthony’s technical and practical knowledge of integrated pest management strategies and his ongoing work to make field-level strategies accessible to farmers. We benefited enormously from the observations and insights he made as a Trustee. He was a thoughtful and generous contributor to the Board and to our project work reducing hazardous pesticide use and exposure.
In his work as consultant and policy advisor with African Governments and many international bodies, Anthony always stressed that he was a Board Member of Pesticide Action Network UK. In this way he brought our work to the attention of bodies such as World Bank Africa Region, GIZ, USAID, and others, as well as to the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) where he became a member of the Governing Council in 2010.
Anthony supported our work to promote safer alternatives to pesticides in many ways, sharing his wealth of expertise on African agriculture and pesticide politics, with patience, diplomacy and always a friendly smile. PAN UK made frequent use of his excellent set of Integrated Pest Management booklets for West African farmers and extension staff, including in Farmer Field School training with Ethiopian partners and in our work for the Better Cotton Initiative. His enduring commitment to education was reflected in his position as a Director of West African Book Publishers Limited Nigeria – one of the foremost educational publishers in West Africa. But his favourite pastime was writing textbooks in science and agriculture for children.
We will miss Anthony greatly, but he leaves a lasting legacy in his dedication and achievements in safer and healthier ways to manage pests.
