Good, healthy food: Thilsted holding prepared fish in a market in Cambodia. Her pond polyculture system has helped millions of people worldwide put nutritious food on their plates, earning her the prestigious award.
PETALING JAYA: It’s a fishy story but in the best way possible. A fish farming system that has put nutritious food on the plates of millions just earned its inventor the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate award.
Nutrition expert Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a Danish citizen based in Penang, has also become the first woman of Asian heritage to be given the honour.
Developing a way to raise nutrient-rich small fish inexpensively, her work has nourished low income families in countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Malawi.
Elizabeth Miglin May 13, 2021
Researcher Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted became the first woman of Asian heritage to win the $250,000 World Food Prize on Tuesday. Her research established the nutritional importance of commonly found fish and has improved the diets, health, and sustainable farming practices of millions across the Global South according to the Des Moines-based World Food Prize Foundation.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and United Nations Nutrition Chairwoman Naoko Yamamoto were all present at the virtual announcement. “As our global population grows, we will need diverse sources of low-emission, high-nutrition foods like aquaculture,” said Secretary Vilsack. “It is going to be crucial in feeding the world while reducing our impact on the climate…”
World Food Prize granted for research on nutritional importance of seafood
By
Share
Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, the global lead for nutrition and public health at WorldFish, has been named the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate for her research into developing nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems, including fisheries and aquaculture, and integrated food production from land and water.
Sometimes referred to as “the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture,” Thilsted’s research has been praised by the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and represents the first time a woman of Asian heritage has been awarded the prize. Her research delved into the nutritional composition of small native fish species that are typically consumed in Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Nutrition expert Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted visiting a fish market recently. Her fish farming system has helped millions of people worldwide put nutritious food on their plates, earning her the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate award.
PETALING JAYA: It’s literally a fishy story, in the best way possible - imagine a fish farming system that has put nutritious food on the plates of millions, earning the inventor the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate award.
Along the way, nutrition expert Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a Danish citizen based in Penang, has also become the first woman of Asian heritage to be given the honour.