The 2014 World Food Prize winner is Sanjaya Rajaram, a wheat breeder with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
This makes the 14th CGIAR scientist to win the prize, which recognizes achievements of individuals to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The World Food Prize aims to draw attention to what has been done to improve global food security and what can be accomplished in the future. It was founded by Dr Norman E Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, as a means of establishing role models who would inspire others. It has been awarded since 1986.
Dr Rajaram received the prize in 2014 for research that has led to an increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons. Under his leadership, CIMMYT's wheat breeding program has developed 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries on 6 continents and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers.
CGIAR researchers comprise over half of the recipients of the World Food Prize. In 2002, Pedro Sanchez from the World Agroforestry Centre received the World Food Prize for pioneering ways to restore fertility to some of the world’s poorest and most degraded soils.
