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Prestigious global award recognizes exceptional scientific or policy efforts towards reducing hunger and improving food security.
Nominations are open for the 2025 World Food Prize, the preeminent international award for food and agriculture. The award honors those advancing global development through transforming food systems.
At the 2023 Laureate Award Ceremony, the World Food Prize Foundation announced the increase of the annual award from $250,000 to $500,000. The ceremony is often referred to as “the Oscars of Agriculture” and is held in parallel with the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, which drew over 1,400 participants from 83 countries in 2023.
The World Food Prize recognizes achievements across the full scope of the food system, including in economics and finance, natural resource conservation, nutrition, plant and animal science, rural development, food and agricultural technology and more. Nominations for women and those from the Global South are especially encouraged.
Most recently, the award was presented to Heidi Kühn, the founder of the non-profit Roots of Peace, for her efforts in turning “mines into vines” by demining war torn land and turning it back into prosperous farmland for local agriculture to flourish. Kühn’s work has supported demining partners in Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Croatia, Israel, Iraq, Palestinian areas, and Vietnam, allowing local farmers safe access to irrigation canals and arable land for cultivation
Other previous Laureates include the late scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, former president of Ghana John Kufuor, current president of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina, the WHO’s Special Envoy for COVID-19 Sir David Nabarro and former CEO of Heifer International Jo Luck.
“Our founder, Dr. Norman Borlaug, spent his life working to improve access to food across the globe,” said Ambassador Terry Branstad, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. “The World Food Prize aims to find those following in his footsteps and elevate them to the global stage. In a world where more than 800 million people suffer from food insecurity, this work is more important than ever.”
Any academic institution, private or public organization, or governmental unit may submit a nomination for the World Food Prize. Nomination criteria, the selection procedure, a social media toolkit for promotion and other information can be found at www.worldfoodprize.org/nominate.
Nominations will be accepted through May 1, 2024, for the 2025 award.