CGIAR @ 2021 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue

Watch the CGIAR 50th Anniversary event:

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 by improving the quality, quantity, and availability of food for all. The World Food Prize is awarded each year during Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa. 

This year, on October 20, CGIAR will celebrate its 50th anniversary by showcasing its close and longstanding partnership with the World Food Prize Foundation, introducing its new Portfolio prospectus, and celebrating the two CGIAR researchers who won both the World Food Prize and the Norman Borlaug Field Award:

• Shakuntala Thilsted, a CGIAR scientist and nutrition expert from WorldFish, will receive the 2021 World Food Prize for her pioneering scientific work on nutrition, fish, and aquatic food systems;
• Elliott Dossou-Yovo, a CGIAR scientist and climate-change specialist from AfricaRice, recognized for spearheading innovative water management systems for resilient rice production in the face of climate change, will receive the 2021 Norman Borlaug Field Award.  

In recognition of this year’s theme: Gaining Momentum: Food Systems Transformation in the Decade of Action, CGIAR will participate in the following events: 

• Oct. 20 – CGIAR 50th Anniversary Celebration – co-hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation: recording available at the top of this page (event starts at 41 minutes, please fast forward).
• CGIAR representation on four high-level roundtable sessions:
  • Oct. 20 – Research and Innovation Roundtable (Claudia Sadoff and Elliott Dossou-Yovo);
  • Oct. 21 – Gender Equity and Equitable Livelihoods Roundtable (Gareth Johnstone and Jemimah Njuki);
  • Oct. 22 – Nutrition Roundtable (Shakuntala Thilsted);
  • Oct. 22 – International Cooperation Roundtable (Kundhavi Kadiresan).

• Oct. 22 – CGIAR side-event: Research and Innovation for a Decade of Action
  • Register for the CGIAR side-event.
  • This event will highlight the role of research and innovation in achieving sustainable and resilient food systems. A speaker will set the stage, highlighting the current state of agricultural research for development and how it can help transform food systems, from production to consumption. Then a deeper dive into CGIAR’s portfolio prospectus of new initiatives and how it can help transform food systems will take place. A moderated discussion bringing together representatives from different stages of research delivery: demand, innovation, and scaling will follow. The speakers will explore research and innovation priorities across different regions and sectors, and present actionable solutions and opportunities for achieving better nutrition for all.

To watch this year’s Borlaug Dialogue, students and participants from the Global South can register for free using the codes dialogue21globalsd for the Global South discount, and dialogue21studentvirtual for the student discount.

Find the complete 2021 Borlaug Dialogue agenda here.