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Innovations to feed and nourish the world
Over decades, CGIAR scientists have earned world recognition for their contributions to food and nutrition security.
Fifty years ago, CGIAR grew out of international efforts to feed a growing world population.
The idea was planted by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, a revolutionary wheat breeder whose innovations increased crop productivity worldwide, ending hunger and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. His work led to the creation and funding of CGIAR, and earned him a Nobel Peace Prize – the only one ever awarded for agriculture.
In Dr. Borlaug’s honor, the World Food Prize was established to recognize the contribution of agricultural scientists to global food and nutrition security. Over decades, CGIAR scientists have been included among the honored laureates for their innovations to sustainably transform the world’s food systems.
CGIAR at the World Food Prize
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Recent highlights, 2014-2021
2021
World Food Prize
Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted
This year's World Food Prize was awarded to Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, a CGIAR Center. Dr. Thilsted was recognized for her groundbreaking research, critical insights, and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems, including fisheries and aquaculture. Her work has improved the diets, nutrition, and health of millions of vulnerable women, men, and children living in low- and middle-income countries across Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
Healthy aquatic food systems for nutrition and livelihoods
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CGIAR research in recent decades has guided a renewed focus on the potential for fisheries, when governed in a collaborative way, to improve nutrition, and provide sustainable livelihoods for women and men living along coasts, rivers, lakes, and constructed water bodies. Nutritional quality of fish production, as well as total volumes, have both increased significantly as a result of these innovations, bringing particular benefits for women’s and children’s health.
Norman Borlaug Field Award
Dr. Elliott Dossou-Yovo
Dr. Elliott Dossou-Yovo, a CGIAR scientist and climate-change specialist at AfricaRice, is this year's recipient of the Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application. He is recognized for spearheading innovative water management systems for resilient rice production in the face of climate change.
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2020
World Food Prize
Dr. Rattan Lal
Dr. Rattan Lal, a former CGIAR soil scientist, spent almost two decades of his career at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a CGIAR Research Center. In 2020, he was awarded the World Food Prize for his innovative soil-saving techniques which have benefitted the livelihoods of more than 500 million smallholder farmers, improved the food and nutrition security of more than two billion people, and saved hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems.
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2018
World Food Prize
Dr. Lawrence Haddad
Dr. Lawrence Haddad, a CGIAR scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in 2018 was awarded the World Food Prize for his work using both economic and medical research to convince development leaders to make child nutrition an urgent priority in the global food security agenda. He shared the award with Dr. David Nabarro, a champion of public health within the United Nations.
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2017
World Food Prize
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
A former CGIAR scientist at IITA, AfricaRice and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was awarded the World Food Prize in 2017 for vision and leadership to transform African agriculture through initiatives to invest in opportunities for youth, expand production, thwart corruption in the fertilizer industry, and make credit widely available to smallholder farmers.
2016
World Food Prize
Drs. Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga, Jan Low and Howarth Bouis
Four CGIAR scientists – Dr. Maria Andrade, Dr. Robert Mwanga, Dr. Jan Low and Dr. Howarth Bouis – in 2016 were awarded the World Food Prize for their success in tackling ‘hidden hunger’ with biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato. Their disease-resistant, drought-tolerant, high-yielding varieties with enhanced levels of vitamin A have reached at least 6.8 million households in Africa and South Asia, preventing sickness and blindness from vitamin deficiencies among millions of children.
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More than 140 million preschool-aged children globally suffer from vitamin A deficiency, primarily in Africa and Asia. The condition weakens the immune system, and is a leading cause of preventable blindness in children, robbing approximately 500,000 children of their sight each year. Biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato, as developed by CGIAR researchers at the International Potato Center (CIP), has proven to be a highly effective tool for tackling vitamin A deficiency in children and women of reproductive age. Research has demonstrated that just 125 grams of most varieties of this sweetpotato can meet the daily vitamin A requirements of a preschool-aged child.
Norman Borlaug Field Award
Dr. Andrew Mude
Dr. Andrew Mude, a CGIAR scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was awarded the 2016 Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application for his work on Index-Based Livestock Insurance, a social safety net for African dryland pastoralists, who are vulnerable to climate-related shocks. Adopted by the Kenyan government, the scheme now insures 90,000 cattle and has paid out $10 million in claims.
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2014
World Food Prize
Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram
In 2014, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram was awarded the World Food Prize for his work as one of the world's most successful and influential wheat breeders. Dr. Rajaram's talent and initiative was recognized early in his career by Norman Borlaug himself, who appointed the 29-year-old scientist as head of the wheat breeding program at CGIAR's International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Over the course of his career, Dr. Rajaram oversaw the development of more than 480 high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties sown on 58 million hectares in 51 countries, increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tons during his lifetime.
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Almost half of all wheat lands worldwide are planted with CGIAR-related varieties. In the past 50 years, these disease-resistant, high-yielding varieties held in public trust for the global community have improved the food and nutrition security of hundreds of millions of people. They have also helped to lower the price of food grains for poor consumers, and continue to provide multiple nutritional, health, and economic benefits. Ongoing research aims to enhance the sustainability of wheat production through improved climate resilience, nutritional value, and equitable sharing of benefits.
Norman Borlaug Field Award
Dr. Bram Govaerts
Dr. Bram Govaerts, a CGIAR scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), was recognized in 2014 for his collaborative work with farmers to sustainably intensify subsistence agriculture and farming systems. His work has introduced sustainable technological innovation to small-scale maize and wheat farmers in Mexico and other regions of the world, helping to end hunger and poverty, and improve livelihoods.
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Norman Borlaug Field Medallion
CIMMYT
Highlights from history, 1987-2013
2013
Norman Borlaug Field Award
Dr. Charity Kawira Mutegi
A CGIAR scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr. Charity Kawira Mutegi in 2013 was awarded the Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application for her efforts in extending a highly effective aflatoxin biocontrol technology known as Aflasafe in Africa, from the laboratory to the field.
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2012
World Food Prize
Dr. Daniel Hillel
A former CGIAR scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Dr. Daniel Hillel in 2012 was awarded the World Food Prize for conceiving and implementing “micro-irrigation” for crops in arid and dry land regions, which laid the foundation for maximizing efficient water usage in agriculture, increasing crop yields and minimizing environmental degradation.
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Norman Borlaug Field Award
Dr. Aditi Mukherji
A CGIAR scientist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Dr. Aditi Mukherji in 2012 was awarded the Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application for her research on groundwater resource access for agriculture, which led to major policy changes benefiting thousands of farmers in West Bengal, India.
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2010
World Food Prize
Jo Luck
Jo Luck, Chair of Program Oversight for the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems led by WorldFish, a CGIAR Center, in 2010 was co-awarded the World Food Prize in recognition of her work in innovative public education initiatives to link grassroots donors in rich countries to recipients in developing countries. Her initiatives have provided income-producing animals to more than 12 million families globally. She shared the award with David Beckmann, a World Bank economist.
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2009
World Food Prize
Dr. Gebisa Ejeta
A former CGIAR scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and a CGIAR Science Council & Board member, Dr. Gebisa Ejeta in 2009 was awarded the World Food Prize for developing the first high-yielding hybrid sorghum plants, resistant both to drought and attack from Striga, a parasitic weed. His achievement has enhanced food security and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.
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2006
World Food Prize
Colin McClung
A former CGIAR scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Colin McClung in 2006 was co-awarded the World Food Prize for discovering the precise combination of lime and fertilizers that could eliminate aluminum toxicity in Brazil’s infertile Cerrado region, eventually transforming 40 million hectares into highly productive farmland. He shared the honor with fellow researcher Edson Lobato and Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Alysson Paolinelli.
2005
World Food Prize
Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta
A CGIAR scientist at WorldFish, Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta in 2005 was awarded the World Food Prize in recognition of his work introducing freshwater aquaculture methods and new fish breeds to inland farmers in South and Southeast Asia, improving incomes, diets and the status of women as household earners.
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2004
World Food Prize
Dr. Monty P. Jones
A CGIAR scientist at AfricaRice, Dr. Monty P. Jones in 2004 was co-awarded the World Food Prize alongside rice researcher Prof. Yuan Longping. The pair were recognized for their work on New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a rice hybrid that combines high yields with resilience to pests, droughts and poor soils. The adoption of NERICA varieties has brought food security to at least 7.2 million people and lifted about 8 million people out of poverty in 16 African countries.
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2002
World Food Prize
Dr. Pedro Sanchez
Dr. Pedro Sanchez has worked as a CGIAR scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, now the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF, now CIFOR-ICRAF). In 2002, he was awarded the World Food Prize for his pioneering work that succeeded in restoring the fertility of some of the world’s poorest and most degraded soils, and increasing productivity of tropical soils, improving both productivity and ecological sustainability of food systems.
2001
World Food Prize
Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen
A CGIAR scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen in 2001 was awarded the World Food Prize for his work demonstrating the important role of policy research and implementation in achieving food security and reducing poverty.
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2000
World Food Prize
Drs. Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal
Two CGIAR scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Dr. Evangelina Villegas and Dr. Surinder Vasal, in 2000 were awarded the World Food Prize for their decades of research and leadership in improving the productivity and nutritional content of maize, improving the diets of millions of the world's most underfed and poorly nourished people.
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1996
World Food Prize
Drs. Henry Beachell and Gurdev Singh Khush
Two CGIAR scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Gurdev Singh Khush, in 1996 were awarded for their advances in rice breeding, which contributed to ensuring that growing populations in Asia and around the world would be supported by sufficient food supplies.
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1995
World Food Prize
Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren
A CGIAR scientist at IITA, Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren in 1995 was awarded the World Food Prize for his work on biological control of cassava mealybug, which eliminated the threat to cassava production and saved upward of 20 million lives.
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1990
World Food Prize
Dr. John S. Niederhauser
A CGIAR scientist at CIP, Dr. John S. Niederhauser was awarded the World Food Prize for his leadership in advancing wider and more effective production of the potato and its resistance to disease, providing a staple crop for people around the world.
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1988
World Food Prize
Dr. Robert Chandler, Jr.
Dr. Robert Chandler, Jr., in 1988 was awarded the World Food Prize for his work at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which spurred the development of an international network of agricultural research centers known today as CGIAR.
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1987
World Food Prize
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan
A CGIAR scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in 1987 was awarded the inaugural World Food Prize for developing and spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties into India during the 1960s, helping to save millions from extreme food deprivation.
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