Awards

Dr. Mahalingram Govindaraj, Senior Scientist for Crop Development at HarvestPlus and the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT, was awarded the 2022 Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, which recognizes individuals under the age of 40 who have made exceptional scientific contributions to international agriculture and food production.

Dr. Govindaraj was recognized for his groundbreaking work on the development of Dhanashakti, the world’s first biofortified pearl millet variety. Enriched with higher iron content, biofortified pearl millet has made significant contributions to food and nutrition security, particularly for women and children. It is estimated that by 2024, more than 9 million people in India will be consuming iron- and zinc-rich pearl millet and living healthier lives as a result.

Delia Grace Randolph, Joint Appointed Scientist for the Animal and Human Health Program at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was awarded the 2022 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award in the category of research innovation, which recognizes unique approaches and achievements of individuals and organizations contributing to food systems worldwide. 

A trained veterinarian and epidemiologist, Grace works in the interconnections between animal, human and environmental health, with a focus on improving food safety in informal markets in developing countries. She was recognized for the transformative impact of her work helping communities build capacity and improve food access and safety. Due to her work, the panel of judges said, “millions more people can have safer and better access to food while also protecting the planet and incorporating important cultural and societal roots.” 

Aflasafe, a CGIAR-developed aflatoxin biocontrol technology, was named Best Innovative Research Project at the World BioProtection Awards 2022, which recognizes remarkable achievements in biocontrol and biological agriculture. 

Aflasafe was recognized as an outstanding innovation that has reduced the problem of aflatoxin contamination in crops such as maize, soybean, and groundnut. Under an IITA program operating in 21 African countries, the dry spore innovation is already being used in 12 countries to treat hundreds of thousands of hectares of cropland, producing tons of high-quality, aflatoxin-safe crops – supporting food safety, health and livelihoods. 

CGIAR Centers IRRI and WorldFish were two of the three Grand Prize winners in the inaugural Seeding the Future Global Food Systems Challenge, which aims to inspire and support innovative, diverse, and multidisciplinary teams to create game-changing innovations that will help transform our food systems. The awards are hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists and the Seeding the Future Foundation. 

IRRI was awarded for its arsenic-safe rice project, which addresses the problem of arsenic contamination in rice by testing, validating and distributing rice cultivars that absorb less arsenic from soil and water, keep arsenic content within safe limits for human and livestock health, and meet market requirements for quality. WorldFish was awarded for its on-farm aquaculture project, which aims to bring sustainable, nutrient-rich small fish production to small-scale actors, especially for consumers who need it most, such as young children, pregnant and lactating women. The winning innovations were chosen from among 900 applications from 60 countries. 

India conferred posthumously its prestigious 2022 Padma Bhushan Award in Science and Engineering in recognition of “distinguished service of high order” to Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize laureate and former wheat breeder and Director of the Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

A crown-of-thorns seastar native to the Red Sea was named after WorldFish’s John Benzie in recognition of his groundbreaking genetic studies on crown-of-thorns seastars in the 1990s and early 2000s.