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.
[edit] 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?"
The 2009 "Borlaug Dialogue" was held October 14–16. The topic is "Food, Agriculture, and National Security in a Globalized World."
[edit] 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 |
| 2009 | Gebisa Ejeta |  Ethiopia | Developing Africa's first sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the parasitic weed Striga. |
| 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. |
[edit] 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.
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