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Nominations are ongoing for the World Food Prize 2025. Click here to learn more about this opportunity and send in your nomination.
Opportunity Details
The World Food Prize Foundation annually awards the World Food Prize to individuals with outstanding contributions. This prestigious award recognizes individuals for their exceptional contributions to advancing human development through innovative interventions within the global food system. Established to celebrate achievements that significantly enhance food quality, quantity, accessibility, or availability, the prize aims to acknowledge impactful efforts addressing crucial issues such as poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and sustainable agriculture.
The World Food Prize serves as a beacon of recognition for those tirelessly working toward global food security. It represents an opportunity to celebrate and amplify impactful contributions in the field.
Fields of achievement include, but are not limited to: soil and land; plant and animal science; food science and technology; nutrition; rural development; marketing; food processing, packaging and storage; water and the environment; natural resource conservation; physical infrastructure; transportation and distribution; special or extraordinary feeding programs; social organization and poverty elimination; economics and finance; policy analysis and implementation; and public advocacy.
This exceptionally significant achievement must be shown to have resulted in a demonstrable increase in the quantity, quality, availability of, or access to food for a large number of people.
The impact of this achievement must be measurable, quantifiable, or otherwise demonstrated either in terms of reduced poverty, hunger, or suffering; or enhanced health, nutrition, quality of life and well-being.
It must be clearly shown that this increase in food security was the direct result of the specific actions and activities of the nominee; i.e., without his or her specific accomplishment, no change would have occurred.
A nominee must be living and in sufficiently good health to attend the World Food Prize Award Ceremony. The nominee must be able to give an acceptance speech and agree to participate in selected media events and the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute at the time of the Award Ceremony.
The Prize is intended to be awarded to one person. In exceptional circumstances where an additional person (or persons) has collaborated in an indispensable way, more than one person may be included in the nomination. However, it must be demonstrated conclusively that each person contributed in an essential way, and that without each individual’s contribution, no achievement would have been possible. The World Food Prize Selection Committee will determine whether a joint nomination meets these criteria, and in cases where it judges this standard has not been met, to limit the number of persons being considered.
The winner will benefit from the prize as follows:
Any academic institution, private or public organization, or governmental unit may submit a nomination for the World Food Prize. Any such entity may submit as many nominations as it sees fit. All nominations are confidential, and the identities of the nominators and the nominating organization are kept in strict confidence. Individuals may generate nominations, but the nomination must be endorsed by, and submitted through, an academic institution, private or public organization, or governmental unit. Self-nominations will not be considered.
To be considered, nominations and all seconding and supporting documents must be submitted by May 1 of the year for which they are to be considered. Incomplete nominations will not be considered.
The World Food Prize Secretariat assists the Selection Committee by reviewing all nominations for appropriateness and completeness and then forwarding them to the Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee then reviews the nominations and recommends the recipient and first alternate it deems most worthy for the award based on the Prize criteria. Recommendations are forwarded through the President of the Foundation to the Foundation’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and Council of Advisors for final approval.
The Selection Committee is composed of a panel of distinguished individuals who are knowledgeable about various aspects of plant science, agricultural production, agricultural policy, nutrition, food processing, food distribution, water and the environment.
Members of the Selection Committee remain anonymous except for the Chairman, Dr. Gebisa Ejeta. The minutes of the Committee's meeting and the views expressed by its members are not made public.
The President of the Foundation serves as an ex-officio, non-voting advisor to the Selection Committee, but does not participate in nor influence the deliberations regarding the selection of the Laureate.
Factors Considered by the Selection Committee in Choosing a Laureate
The Selection Committee will consider the number of people affected by the nominee's achievement as well as the extent of the change they experienced as substantial factors in evaluating the relative significance of the various individual achievements being considered.
Substantial weight will also be given to the complexity of the problem and the degree of difficulty involved in achieving success. Similarly, consideration will be given to the degree of ingenuity and determination of the nominee in attaining this change or advancement.
If the Selection Committee judges that the accomplishment was simultaneously attained by two or more individuals working separately, the Selection Committee may recommend that the Prize be shared.
In exceptional circumstances, the Selection Committee may also decide to recognize two or more individuals in the same year for: their separate, independent accomplishments in a common area of specialization; or their work in different areas of expertise, which contributed to a significant positive impact in a common country or geographic area, or in a common cause.
It is intended that all elements of the food system be recognized at some point in the awarding of the Prize. In weighing the merits of nominations, consideration may be given to attaining a balance among all segments of the food system in the selection of the Laureate.
The Prize recognizes achievements made by individuals working in every part of the world, representing the diversity of the global food and nutrition security community. The Prize aims to give due recognition to individuals of diverse geographic areas, as well as gender, age, race and ethnicity.
The Selection Committee especially welcomes the nominations of individuals who have worked across political boundaries to feed hungry people in a way that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict, which would emulate Dr. Borlaug’s accomplishments in spreading the Green Revolution for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
To submit a nomination, please visit this online form. The following list details the information that will be required.
If a nominee becomes the World Food Prize Laureate, the information contained in the nomination and the supporting documents may be used to prepare press materials about the winner.
Please note that all text documents must be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format (.doc, .docx, or .pdf).
Eligibility Period
Nominees remain eligible for consideration for a three-year period, starting with the year of submission. Nominators are encouraged to provide updated information during this period. After this three-year time frame, a completely new nomination must be submitted in order for the nominee to continue to be considered. The Selection Committee may decide to extend the eligibility period for nominations deemed worthy of further consideration.
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