Nairobi — Perhaps due to his participation in the mediated talks which ended Kenya's post-election bloodbath, there is little mention of Mr Kofi Annan the farmer.

Rather, the focus seems to be on his diplomatic engagements.

But notably, while in his tour of Kenya, Mr Annan met officials of the Green Revolution in Africa, a movement he founded which has its head office in Nairobi.

Through the Green Revolution, Mr Annan is promoting small family farms rather than trying to mimic the industrialisation of the West.

He believes that small-scale farming can "green" Africa and boost food security.

For this and his ongoing mediation effort, the Foreign Policy Magazine this week ranked him amongst the top 100 global thinkers whose ideas shaped 2009. The magazine, which devotes its energies to interrogate American policy, described Mr Annan as "a rock star of international relations".

Kenyans and the world celebrated Mr Annan's diplomatic acumen last year when he brokered a peace deal between rivals President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to end the violence.

During the talks, Mr Annan's unique experience and stature enabled him to mobilise support from Western powers and distinguished Africans such as South African freedom legend Nelson Mandela.

Kenyans sighed with relief when he declared "we have a deal" after weeks of fighting, international pressure and palpable anxiety.

Ranked at the top of the list of global thinkers is the chairman US federal reserve (central bank) Ben Bernanke for "single-handedly preventing the collapse of the US economy".

"Helicopter Ben spent 2009 dropping billions in bailouts from the skies," says the magazine.

US President Barack Obama is second on the list for his handling of the global economic meltdown and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He is an unapologetic wonk with a professorial bearing, a radical incrementalist (in the useful term of his detractors) who assesses, seeks advice, considers, seeks counsel again, and then tinkers."

Other top thinkers of 2009 are Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Iranian opposition leader Hossein Mousavi for inspiring the country's Green Revolution and American economist Nouriel Roubini who accurately forecast the global financial pandemic.

The others include Pope Benedict (XVI), Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, British PM Gordon Brown, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for being a "living symbol of hope in a dark place," Obama's economic advisor Larry Summers and Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria.

Former US Vice- president Dick Cheney is also praised for "protecting America's power in the world."

Besides Annan, only three Africans made it to the list -- all somewhat interesting inclusions.

Ghananian economist George Ayittey is an unlikely candidate on a list by a magazine vigorously supportive of American dogma.

Ayittey loathes America's attitude towards Africa.

"The presumption that Africans don't know what is good for them and that Americans or other foreigners know what is best for Africans is extremely offensive," he reckons.

He believes that the UN General Assembly meetings should be held on rotational basis and proposes the next to sit in Iran, North Korea or Zimbabwe.

But it is only Egyptian theologian Sayyid Imam al-Sharif who was placed in the top 10. Sharif was a spiritual compass for Islamist terrorists. An early founder of al Qaeda with Ayman al-Zawahiri of Cairo University's medical School, he authored books supporting a global jihad. But in 2007 he switched sides by writing a book which undermines the legitimacy of al Qaeda and Jihad.

The third African is Ugandan journalist Emmanuel Mwenda.