The winner of the 2021 World Food Prize is a nutrition expert known for her groundbreaking research on aquaculture and food systems.
During a live virtual ceremony Tuesday morning, World Food Prize Foundation President Barbara Stinson announced the 2021 recipient of the prestigious $250,000 World Food Prize.
?I am so pleased to announce that the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate is Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted of Denmark and Trinidad Tobago,? said Stinson. ?Dr. Thilsted is the seventh woman to be awarded the World Food Prize and the first woman of Asian heritage.?
Often referred to as the ?Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture,? the World Food Prize is the most prominent global award recognizing an individual who has enhanced human development and confronted global hunger through improving the quality, quantity or availability of food for all.
Dr. Thilsted told the audience that fish and aquatic foods offer life-changing opportunities for millions of vulnerable women, children, and men to be healthy and well-nourished.
?I am truly honored to receive this award, and I am deeply humbled to be placed in such distinguished ranks as those of past laureates,? said Dr. Thilsted. ?As a scientist, I feel this award is an important recognition of the essential but often overlooked role of fish and aquatic food systems in agricultural research for development.?
By bringing together interdisciplinary and international collaborators, Dr. Thilsted drove transformations in aquatic food systems to deliver improved nutrition, resilient ecosystems and secure livelihoods for millions of vulnerable people across the globe.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and UN Nutrition Chair Naoko Yamamoto delivered special individual remarks during Tuesday?s announcement.
