World Food Prize

The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

The Prize

The prize was created in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug with the help of General Foods, and since 1990 has been sponsored by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan. The prize recognizes contributions in all fields involved in the world food supply — food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership and the social sciences. As well as recognizing personal accomplishments, Borlaug saw the prize as a means of establishing role models who would inspire others.

Laureates are honored and officially awarded their prize in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, in a televised award ceremony held in the House Chamber of the Iowa State Capitol. The Award Ceremony coincides with the Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, known as the "Borlaug Dialogue," which addresses an issue related to hunger and food security each year. Past symposia have focused on the promises and challenges presented by biofuels for global development, the dual challenges of malnutrition and obesity, water insecurity and its impact on development and stability in the Middle East, and "The Green Revolution Redux: Can We Replicate the Single Greatest Period of Hunger Reduction in All Human History?"

In 2008 The World Food Prize Foundation accepted a $5 million contribution from Monsanto Company to ensure the continuation of the annual World Food Prize International Symposium “Borlaug Dialogue.” The funds support a renewed fundraising campaign to transform the historic Des Moines Public Library building into a public museum to honor Dr. Norman Borlaug and the work of the World Food Prize Laureates.

The 2011 "Borlaug Dialogue" will be held October 12–14. The topic is "The Next Generation: Confronting the Hunger Challenges of Tomorrow."

Laureates

World Food Prize Laureates are formally honored at the World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony annually on or near October 16, United Nations World Food Day. The winners receive USD $250,000.

The announcement of the World Food Prize Laureate is made in the late spring or early summer prior to her or his formal recognition in October.

Year	Laureate(s)	Nationality	Achievement
2011	John Agyekum Kufuor and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	Ghana Brazil	Creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries
2010	David Beckmann and Jo Luck	United States	Building Bread for the World and Heifer International into two of the world's foremost grassroots organizations leading the charge to end hunger and poverty around the globe.
2009	Gebisa Ejeta	Ethiopia	Developing Africa's first sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the parasitic witchweed.
2008	Bob Dole and George McGovern	United States	Leading and encouraging a global commitment to school feeding, which has enhanced school attendance and nutrition for millions of the world's poorest children, especially young women and girls.
2007	Dr. Philip E. Nelson	United States	Revolutionizing food processing, packaging, transportation, and distribution by perfecting bulk aseptic packaging technology and spreading the technology worldwide.
2006	Edson Lobato, His Excellency Alysson Paolinelli, Dr. A. Colin McClung	Brazil Brazil United States	Pioneering work in soil science and policy implementation that opened the vast Cerrado region of Brazil to agricultural and food production.
2005	Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta	India	Development and dissemination of low-cost techniques for freshwater fish farming (using tilapia species) by the rural poor.
2004	Prof. Yuan Longping	China	Development of hybrid rice varieties
	Dr. Monty Jones	Sierra Leone	Development of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), with the potential to increase rice yields in Africa.
2003	Catherine Bertini	United States / United Nations	Transforming the World Food Programme from a development assistance program to the largest and most effective humanitarian food relief organization
2002	Dr. Pedro A. Sanchez	United States / Cuba	Development of methods to restore fertility to degraded soils in Africa and South America.
2001	Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen	Denmark	Establishment of "Food For Education" programs in which families receive food subsidies when children stay in school.
2000	Dr. Evangelina Villegas, Dr. Surinder K. Vasal	Mexico India	Developing high quality protein maize (QPM).
1999	Dr. Walter Plowright	United Kingdom	Developing a vaccine against the cattle plague rinderpest.
1998	Dr. B.R. Barwale	India	Founder of independent seed company Mahyco, strengthening seed supply and distribution throughout India.
1997	Dr. Ray F. Smith, Dr. Perry Adkisson	United States United States	Developing the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which employs various techniques to protect crops from insect damage in an environmentally sustainable manner.
1996	Dr. Henry Beachell, Dr. Gurdev Khush	United States India	Developing "miracle rice" varieties that doubled rice production in Asia since their development.
1995	Dr. Hans R. Herren	Switzerland	Developing a pest control program for the cassava mealybug, which could destroy African cassava crop.
1994	Dr. Muhammad Yunus	Bangladesh	Founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, developed innovative small loan programs for the poor, providing millions of people access to more food and better nutrition.
1993	His Excellency He Kang	China	Initiation of reforms while head of the Ministry of Agriculture which made China self-sufficient for food production.
1992	Dr. Edward F. Knipling, Dr. Raymond C. Bushland	United States United States	Developing the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control insect parasites that harm the world's food supply.
1991	Dr. Nevin S. Scrimshaw	United States	Human nutrition studies that led to the use of protein-rich food products to combat malnutrition in developing countries.
1990	Dr. John Niederhauser	United States	Discovering a durable resistance to potato late blight.
1989	Dr. Verghese Kurien	India	Turned the milksheds of India into the Amul cooperatives that produce, process, and market milk in the urban centres of that country.
1988	Dr. Robert F. Chandler	United States	Founding leadership of the International Rice Research Institute and his dedication to developing tropical rice varieties that doubled and tripled the yields of traditional varieties.
1987	Prof. M.S. Swaminathan	India	Introducing high-yielding wheat and rice varieties to India starting India's Green Revolution.

The Borlaug–Ruan Internship

The Borlaug–Ruan International Internship provides high school students an opportunity for an eight-week hands-on experience, working with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading research centers around the world.

The internship was founded in 1994 and has funded over 100 Borlaug–Ruan Interns who have traveled to Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Kenya, Peru, The Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Trinidad.

Iowa Hunger Summit

The Iowa Hunger Summit has taken place during the week of the World Food Prize events since 2007. The event celebrates the role Iowans play in fighting hunger and advancing food security each year. The activities are open to the public and aim to encourage interaction among leaders in the community, government, schools, places of worship, and organizations.[1]

See also

• Wolf Prize in Agriculture

References

• A.S. Clausi online article on Institute of Food Technologists website about the creation and history of the World Food Prize. (Members only) - accessed 24 October 2009.
• Clausi, A.S. "General Foods established World Food Prize". Food Technology October 2009. p. 79.

External links

• The World Food Prize
• Purdue plant breeder, geneticist receives World Food Prize