2026 Top Agri-food Pioneers

Meet the 2026 Top Agri-food Pioneers! The World Food Prize Foundation is recognizing 40 innovators in honor of 40 years of the World Food Prize. Representing 30 countries across six continents and ranging in age from 16 to 81, this cohort showcases the breadth of talent driving innovation in food and agriculture. These pioneers are advancing solutions across the agri-food sector, demonstrating that leadership and impact can emerge from any corner of the world and at any stage of life.

Maman Abdou Niger | Irrigation and water use Maman Abdou has revolutionized digital technology to transform agricultural practices in Africa and arid and semi-arid climates. He has done extensive research on smart agriculture and automated irrigation water management systems. In this capacity, he has developed a suite of social innovations in water and environmental management, enabling rural populations... [ View ]

Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov Uzbekistan | Cotton breeding Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov provides a master blueprint for using advanced biotechnology to enhance the quality, quantity and availability of food and fiber within a sustainable and equitable system. His pioneering RNAi technology created superior cotton cultivars cultivated on over 100,000 hectares in Uzbekistan. These varieties offer a 20-30% yield increase along... [ View ]

Jeffrey Appiagyei Ghana | Smart agricultural machinery Jeffrey Appiagyei is an agriculture engineer and entrepreneur focused on building machine learning systems and analytics that turn data insights into improved agricultural outcomes. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of SAYeTECH, a product- and service-oriented company that designs and builds smart agricultural machinery suited for African conditions.... [ View ]

Gabriela Del Pilar Burgos Zapata Peru | Iron-biofortified potatoes Gabriela Del Pilar Burgos Zapata is a visionary scientist redefining how agriculture can directly improve human health. Through her pioneering leadership in biofortification, she is transforming staple crops into powerful tools to combat hidden hunger, delivering essential micronutrients to vulnerable populations. Her research at the International Potato Center has positioned... [ View ]

Anandharamakrishnan Chinnaswamy India | 3D & 4D food printing and nutrition Anandharamakrishnan Chinnaswamy is a distinguished scientist in agricultural sciences and food engineering in India. His pioneering research is known for its scientific eminence, industrial relevance and support for the social upliftment of farmers and entrepreneurs. He developed a designer rice variety with high protein content, low glycemic index and fortification... [ View ]

Chiedozie Egesi Nigeria | Cassava breeding Chiedozie Ngozi Egesi is a leading agricultural technology pioneer whose career is defined by transformative contributions to crop improvement, biotechnology and seed systems across Africa. As executive director and chief executive officer of the National Root Crops Research Institute in Nigeria, he provides scientific and institutional leadership, driving the integration... [ View ]

Fiona Flintan United Kingdom | Rangelands and pastoralists' adaptations to climate change Over a 20-year career, Fiona Flintan has pioneered creative and innovative solutions to the often overlooked challenges facing the world’s rangelands, culminating in the designation of 2026 as the UN’s International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Globally, rangelands provide more than 70% of the forage consumed by livestock, relied upon... [ View ]

Michael Hands United Kingdom | Agroforestry Michael Hands dedicates his life to promoting the Inga Tree Model, a revolutionary, organic agroforestry system designed to support family farmers in Central America. Currently implemented by over 650 smallholder families in northern Honduras, this system utilizes Inga tree alleys to provide total food security, improve livelihoods and offer an... [ View ]

AbduRahman Beshir Issa Ethiopia | Maize seed systems AbduRahman Beshir Issa, Seed Systems Lead for CIMMYT Asia, brings over two decades of experience advancing agricultural innovation across Africa and Asia. His work focuses on connecting science-driven research with market-responsive delivery, ensuring improved, stress-resilient crop varieties reach smallholder farmers. His strategic leadership in Pakistan and Nepal has delivered measurable,... [ View ]

Marina Kamanzi Rwanda | Drought-tolerant seeds Marina Kamanzi, founder and managing director of Kagezi Seed Company Limited, is a transformative leader whose work addresses global hunger through climate-resilient innovation and social inclusivity. Rooted in her lived experience as a refugee, she combines her legal acumen with a passion for agribusiness to solve pressing challenges in Zambian... [ View ]

Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg Kenya | Gender-responsive ag research for development Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg is recognized for her transformative leadership at the intersection of food systems, gender equity and institutional change across Africa. As Managing Director for Africa at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, she leads one of the continent’s leading research-for-development organizations, advancing climate-resilient agriculture, biodiversity conservation and inclusive... [ View ]

Rudrojas Kunvar United States | Crop health using AI Rudrojas Kunvar is the 16-year-old founder of Evion, an AI crop health platform that replaces expensive multispectral sensors with standard RGB cameras. This innovation makes precision agriculture accessible to smallholder farmers who are historically priced out of the technology. Distributed through NGO and nonprofit partnerships, the platform has reached over... [ View ]

Winwin Kyi Myanmar | Food science and technology Winwin Kyi formally registered FoSTAM in 2013, enabling its membership in FIFSTA and creating a platform for professional exchange and the advancement of food science and technology in Myanmar. Under her leadership, specialized working groups were established in research and development, ethical standards, external relations, food safety and public awareness.... [ View ]

Marco Maccaferri Italy | Wheat genetics and breeding Marco Maccaferri is a globally recognized leader in durum wheat genetics whose pioneering work has fundamentally advanced both scientific understanding and practical crop improvement. His research bridges the critical gap between genetic discovery and real-world application, enabling breeders worldwide to develop resilient, high-yielding durum wheat varieties essential for global food... [ View ]

Donald MacKenzie Canada | Biotech improvement and regulation for underutilized staple crops Donald MacKenzie is a globally recognized leader in agricultural development applying agricultural technologies to improve underutilized food security species. Recently serving as executive director of the Institute for International Crop Improvement at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, his expertise in crop biotechnology, regulatory science, seed systems and technical capacity... [ View ]

Steve Mantle Australia | Data services for specialty crops Steve Mantle is an agtech innovator who empowers specialty crop growers by turning real-world farm data into actionable decisions that improve yield, labor efficiency, climate resilience and operational risk. As founder and chief executive officer of innov8.ag, he builds technology that fuses data from machines, crews, weather, imagery and sensors... [ View ]

Gonroudobou Marietta Benin | Ag education and advisory Gonroudobou Marietta bridges rigorous crop science with practical, tech-enabled solutions that farmers can successfully use. Through Agro Hikari, she has built an education and advisory platform that translates agronomic knowledge into actionable guidance and services for producers while creating a cross-border community connecting researchers, practitioners and farmers. The World Food... [ View ]

Lourena Arone Maxwell Mozambique | Biological inputs for vegetable crops Lourena Arone Maxwell is an innovative plant pathologist and consortium architect advancing global crop protection and food security. As Founder and Project Lead of the WorldVeg–Biologicals Consortium, she unites researchers, industry leaders, policymakers and farmers to scale sustainable biological solutions across diverse farming systems. Through the consortium, Maxwell built a... [ View ]

Gilbert Mbeh Cameroon | Nutrition of traditional African foods Gilbert Mbeh, founder and chief technology officer of PushNcare, is solving a critical challenge in global food systems: the cultural data void. Currently, over 90% of traditional African foods are missing from mainstream nutritional databases, leaving 1.5 billion people clinically invisible when facing diet-related, non-communicable diseases. To solve this, Mbeh... [ View ]

Tara McHugh United States | Utilization of imperfect fruits/vegetables Tara McHugh is an internationally recognized food scientist whose innovations have transformed how fruits and vegetables are preserved, utilized and delivered to consumers. By converting underutilized agricultural products into appealing, shelf-stable foods, her research improves nutrition and reduces food loss. She developed the first shelf-stable 100% fruit, creating a valuable... [ View ]

Simon Mnyele Tanzania | Complementary foods for child malnutrition Simon Gabriel Mnyele is building one of Tanzania’s most impactful and scalable nutrition enterprises to address child malnutrition at the community level. As co-founder and chief growth officer of Lishe360, he helped develop a locally rooted solution to improve access to affordable, nutritious foods for mothers and young children. Lishe360... [ View ]

Hayden Montgomery New Zealand | Methane emission reduction Hayden Montgomery, program director for agriculture at the Global Methane Hub, leads a global effort to coordinate and fund cutting-edge research to reduce methane emissions from livestock and rice production. Under his leadership, the agriculture program mobilized over $230 million through global research initiatives spanning more than 30 countries. Montgomery... [ View ]

Raphael Mrode Nigeria | Dairy cow genetics and breeding Raphael Mrode harnesses the power of data and genetics to identify and breed economically important traits into dairy cows, leading to healthier cattle with higher milk production. This allows farmers to breed smaller cows that require less feed and grazing land while producing more milk. He divides his attention between... [ View ]

Willie Ng Malaysia | Converting ag waste to feed and fertilizer Willie Ng is redefining how agricultural waste, technology and smallholder livelihoods intersect in Southeast Asia. Through Global Cerah, he has developed an integrated circular economy model that transforms agricultural waste into protein-rich animal feed and organic fertilizer, cutting farmers’ production costs by up to 45% while reducing dependence on imported... [ View ]

Wasamon Nutakul Thailand | Alternative proteins Wasamon Nutakul has built a career at the intersection of science, industry and policy, advancing food system innovation and improving both planetary and public health. Leading the science and technology team at the Good Food Institute APAC, she drives systemic change across one of the world’s most dynamic food regions.... [ View ]

Alejandro Ortega-Beltran Mexico | Aflatoxin biocontrol Alejandro Ortega-Beltran has dedicated his career to developing science-based solutions to reduce aflatoxin contamination in staple crops. His work improves food safety, public health and farmers’ livelihoods across sub-Saharan Africa. By combining rigorous research with large-scale technology dissemination and capacity building, he enables farmers to produce safer food and access... [ View ]

Uta Paszkowski Germany | Cereal crops' symbiosis with fungi Uta Paszkowski has made transformative contributions to sustainable agriculture through pioneering plant science, using advanced molecular and genomic approaches to address critical food system challenges. As Head of the Cereal Symbiosis Group, she focuses on harnessing the potential for cereals like rice and maize to form beneficial partnerships with arbuscular... [ View ]

Marian Dorcas Quain Ghana | Seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops Marian Dorcas Quain is the deputy director general of the leading research and innovation organization in Ghana and is a trailblazer in agricultural biotechnology. She consistently applies inventive and cutting-edge scientific approaches to address agrifood challenges. Quain initiated biotechnology research at the CSIR Crops Research Institute, transforming it into a... [ View ]

Yashpal Saharawat India | Fertilizer innovation Yashpal Saharawat pioneered three transformative, data-driven initiatives that integrated agronomic science with scalable implementation to address food security, climate resilience and rural poverty. He advanced Mechanized Fertilizer Deep Placement, an FAO-recognized innovation that mechanizes the subsurface placement of multi-nutrient briquettes. This approach significantly reduces ammonia volatilization and greenhouse gas emissions... [ View ]

Mayumi Sato Japan | Community resilience in crisis areas Mayumi Sato is dedicated to building equitable agrifood systems and climate-resilient societies in conflict-affected scenarios. She has spent over eight years working with crisis-affected communities, including refugees from Myanmar, drought-affected farmers in Ghana and agricultural defenders in the Middle East to ensure food security during humanitarian crises. She led research... [ View ]

Abdoulaye Sawadogo Burkina Faso | Improved seed varieties Abdoulaye Sawadogo founded Neema Agricole du Faso (NAFASO SA), a private enterprise dedicated to the production and distribution of improved seeds, in 2008. Today, NAFASO actively contributes to the development of African agriculture by producing more than 10,000 tonnes of improved seeds annually, reaching nearly 1.14 million smallholder farmers. Beyond... [ View ]

Corinne Scown United States | Agricultural decision-making Corinne Scown is a leader in advancing sustainable agrifood systems through rigorous, systems-level science and advanced modeling. Trained as an environmental engineer, her research integrates life-cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis and systems modeling to evaluate emerging biobased technologies and agricultural innovations. Her work emphasizes quantitative decision-making, identifying which biomass feedstocks, conversion... [ View ]

Rony Swennen Germany | Banana breeding Rony Swennen has spent a lifetime transforming banana agriculture and securing its future for smallholder farmers. Joining IITA in 1979, he built the plantain program from scratch and achieved what was deemed impossible by breeding disease-resistant, high-yielding plantain hybrids in the 1980s. At KU Leuven, he developed the first biotech... [ View ]

Dror Tamir Israel | Locust farming Dror Tamir is a visionary leader who is transforming the world’s most destructive agricultural pest into its most sustainable and nutrient-dense protein source. As founder and chief executive officer of the global leader in commercial locust farming, he spearheaded the transition of locust rearing from a wild-harvesting tradition to a... [ View ]

Rajeev Varshney India | Legume genomics, breeding and seed systems Rajeev Varshney builds the entire agricultural chain from genome to farmer's field across the Global South. His innovation in Genomics-Assisted Breeding transformed a theoretical promise into an operational tool for national programs. By developing shared, high-throughput genotyping platforms that deliver genetic markers at one-third of the market cost, he removed... [ View ]

Josselyn Veronica Vega Rojas Ecuador | Agroecology Josselyn Veronica Vega Rojas is helping to future-proof agriculture in the Andean highlands of Cotopaxi, Ecuador, through a blend of Indigenous knowledge, agroecology and community leadership. A member of the Kichwa Panzaleo people, she runs the Kay Pacha Agroecological Farm, growing diverse crops and raising animals to protect biodiversity while... [ View ]

Chen-Pang Wu Taiwan | Agri-biotechnology and biostimulants Chen-Pang Wu led his team to pioneer Homeostatic Systemins (HSs) using green subcritical hydrolysis. This breakthrough technology enhances yield and climate resilience, holds 27 patents and won the 2025 National Innovation Award. HSs deliver a triple-win for farmers, enterprises and the environment by reducing fertilizer use by 20% and field... [ View ]

Liangzhi You China | Ag economics, policy and land use Liangzhi You is a pioneering spatial data scientist and agricultural economist who created invaluable tools to address global food security, agricultural productivity and climate resilience. As the inventor of the Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM), he developed one of the world’s most widely used global crop distribution datasets. SPAM empowers... [ View ]

Curtis Youngs United States | Livestock artificial insemination Curtis Youngs has combined scientific excellence, international leadership and practical impact to advance livestock systems, food security and agricultural capacity across multiple regions. He has built a distinguished career at Iowa State University, serving as Morrill Professor, M.E. Ensminger Endowed Chair of International Animal Agriculture and associate director of the... [ View ]

Andrey Zarur Mexico | RNA-based biopesticides Andrey Zarur founded GreenLight Biosciences in 2008 to pioneer RNA-based alternatives to chemical pesticides. Under his leadership, GreenLight Bio developed revolutionary RNA interference (RNAi) technology delivering targeted, environmentally sustainable crop protection. The company's first product, Calantha, made history as the first foliar-applied RNA-based biopesticide registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection... [ View ]