2021 World Food Prize Laureate

Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate for her influential work on nutrition, fish, and aquatic food systems. Often referred to as the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture," the World Food Prize is the most prominent global award recognizing exceptional individuals who have worked to enhance human development by improving the quality, quantity, and availability of food for all.

Dr. Thilsted is the first woman of Asian heritage to be awarded the World Food Prize. She was the first to examine the nutritional composition of small native fish species commonly found and consumed in Bangladesh and Cambodia. Her research demonstrated that the high levels of multiple essential micronutrients and fatty acids in these affordable and locally available foods offered life-changing benefits for children's cognitive development in their first 1000 days of life and the nutrition and health of their mothers. From this breakthrough, she went on to develop nutrition-sensitive approaches and innovations to food production, distribution, and consumption that have improved the diets, nutrition, and livelihoods of millions of vulnerable women, men, and children living in low- and middle-income countries across Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.

Her trailblazing work on nutrition in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa show that fish and aquatic food systems are an integral part of food production, local diets, culture, child and maternal health, and general wellbeing. Her scientific findings demonstrate fish, and aquatic foods must occupy a more central role in future nutrition-focused interventions and policy and investment decisions for agricultural research and development and a sustainable transformation of food systems towards healthy and resilient diets.

A true food systems thinker, the impact of Dr. Thilsted's research crosses over different disciplines and sectors. She is credited with developing the pond polyculture system, a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable way of farming small and large fish species together in homestead ponds, water bodies, and rice fields. This innovation which helped to significantly increase the quality, diversity, and quantity of available food, prompted a large-scale shift towards aquaculture production in Bangladesh. In addition, it led the Government of Bangladesh to recognize the pond polyculture system as a critical innovation for meeting national targets to beat hunger, malnutrition, gender inequality, and poverty.

Working together with local communities and private sector actors, Thilsted guided the development of innovative, affordable, and culturally acceptable fish-based products suitable for consumption by young children and lactating women. She discovered these products were nutrition powerhouses in their own right, and – when consumed with other foods – they also helped increase the absorption or bioavailability of other essential micronutrients found in vegetables and rice, such as iron and zinc.

Thilsted's influential research work on harvesting and processing in fish and aquatic food systems have enabled women in the sector to overcome gender barriers, to increase the visibility of their work in and contributions to the aquatic foods sector, to improve their access to affordable, nutritious fish and other foods, to increase incomes, and to create new business and economic opportunities. In addition, her work has guided the development of national campaigns and community programs to raise awareness and improve knowledge about nutrition and the critical inclusion of fish and aquatic foods in healthy and balanced diets for malnourished women and children.

Her scientific work on nutrition-sensitive approaches to food production from land and water have turned traditional thinking about agricultural research and food systems solutions on its head. She puts nutrition and public health outcomes at the heart of critical questions about how foods -- from land and water -- are produced, processed, transported, costed, distributed, and consumed. Dr. Thilsted's impressive body of research innovations is shifting the dial on global narratives of food production to higher food systems thinking from questions of 'feeding' a growing global population to a more enlightened discourse on 'nourishing' billions of people, nations, and our precious blue planet. In addition, her work on nutrition, fish, and aquatic food systems in low- and middle-income countries is inspiring a new generation of women in science, food systems thinkers, and aquatic foods champions.

A passionate and inspiring scientific leader at WorldFish, CGIAR, and globally, Dr. Thilsted's critical insights shaped the formulation of the new disruptive 2030 WorldFish Research and Innovation Strategy: Aquatic Foods for Healthy People and Planet.

She is a UN Food Systems Champion and serves as the Vice-Chair for Action Track 4: Advance Equitable Livelihoods of the upcoming 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. In addition, Dr. Thilsted is a member of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition and advises the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago and a citizen of Denmark, she received her bachelor of science degree in Tropical Agriculture from The University of West Indies. She completed her post-graduate and doctorate studies in nutrition physiology at the University of Copenhagen. A CGIAR scientist, Dr. Thilsted is currently the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, working to bring aquatic foods to the heart of the global science and policy discourse on sustainable food systems transformation towards healthy and resilient diets.

Meet the Laureate

Life and achievements

1949

Starting life in a small caribbean island

Thilsted was born in 1949 in the Caribbean island of Trinidad in the small village of Reform.

1960 - 1967

A natural curiosity

Thilsted studied secondary school at Naparima Girls’ High School. Her natural curiosity and attention to detail drew her to math and science where she excelled.

1968 - 1971

Following a passion for agriculture and nutrition

Thilsted completed her undergraduate education at the Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies, where she earned a B.Sc. in Tropical Agriculture in 1971. Thilsted’s studies were focused on animal production, where she took particular interest in the metabolism of nutrients. This understanding of the breakdown of nutrients would later be useful for her research in human nutrition.

1971 - 1973

Breaking barriers as the first and only woman

Straight after graduating, Thilsted commenced her career as the first and only woman in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries on the island of Tobago. As an agricultural officer she worked on a World Bank-funded project focused on improving smallholder agriculture with a special focus on livestock, and livestock products such as milk.

1973 - 1974

Moving into research

Thilsted took up her first research job as an assistant in Faculty of Natural Sciences at University of the West Indies, India, Trinidad Campus. Here she researched animal health and tick-bourne diseases in cows. This built her understanding of One Health approaches.

1974

Finding love and adventuring across the atlantic

While working as an agricultural officer, she married her partner Finn Thilsted, a Danish law student who would later dedicate his career to diplomatic service. After marrying in a ceremony in Trinidad they soon moved to Denmark

1975 - 1980

Pursuing postgraduate studies in Denmark

Thilsted studied a postgraduate course and later a PhD with the Veterinary Faculty for FAO Fellows at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark. Her research on the metabolism of nutrients in cows explored how to regulate and move nutrients from different cells with the goal of improving milk production.

1980 - 1981

Working with the FAO in Tanzania

After finishing her PhD, Shakuntala headed to Tanzania where she worked as an FAO Associate Expert, researching and teaching in the department of physiology at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Sokoine University.At the same time Shakuntala’s husband Finn took his first diplomatic posting as the First Secretary of the Royal Danish Embassy in Tanzania.

1982 - 1987

Returning to lead the Animal Physiology Department

On returning to Denmark, Thilsted took a leading role as the Assistant Head of Department at the Department of Animal Physiology, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University. In 1986, she was promoted to the position of Head of Department and later would take senior positions on the board.

1983

Starting a family

Thilsted gave birth to her first child and only daughter Sita.

1986

Second child and new beginning in Bangaldesh

Thilsted gave birth to her second child and first son Anil on November 1st in Copehagen, Denmark. Just five weeks later, Shakuntala and Anil moved to Bangladesh to join husband Finn, who had recently taken up a diplomatic posting. Arriving on December 31st, they brought in the new year as a family in their new home in Dhaka.

1987-1990

Working with malnourished children in Bangladesh

Thilsted worked at the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh as a Nutrition Coordinator on a child health program that treated around 7,000 children a year diagnosed with malnutrition. As part of her work, she went out into the urban and peri-urban slums of Dhaka to identify malnourished children for further treatment and home rations provided by the World Food Programme. Her time in the field allowed her to learn about local diets and culture.

1988

Realizing the nourishing power of diverse fish

Thilsted took a leading role in developing a nutrition rehabilitation program for malnourished children with the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. While developing the program she spoke to women who told her about the value of fish to their health, especially to good eyesight. These accounts inspired Thilsted to consider the high concentration of Vitamin A in fish and sparked her journey studying fish for nutrition.

1989

Shaping nutrition efforts in Bangladesh

Thilsted took up a role as a member of a Working Group on Breastfeeding and Weaning Diets, organized by UNICEF, Bangladesh.

1989

Joining the National Nutrition Council and UNICEF in Bangladesh

Thilsted took up a role as a member of the Consultative Group organized by the National Nutrition Council and UNICEF, Bangladesh for designing and testing a modified growth chart for Bangladesh.

1989

Joining the Village Milk Production Project in Bangladesh

Thilsted took up a role as member of the Consultative Group for the Pre-appraisal of The Village Milk Production Project, Bangladesh and Collaboration between the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute and the Department of Animal Science and Animal Health, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark.

1990

Promoting nutritious foods for healthy mothers in Bangladesh

Thilsted took a role as a member of the Committee for the National Campaign for the Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding organized by UNICEF, Bangladesh.

1991-2011

Building the evidence base on the nutrition composition of local fish

After gaining qualitative knowledge on the nutritious value of fish, Thilsted returned to the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark where she began to characterize the nutrition composition of small fish species, Mola. Using sophisticated methods for measuring Vitamin A compounds in fish she discovered fish had high levels of dehydroxy retinol, a Vitamin A metabolite, confirming her hypothesis that small fish were good for eyesight. Working with many Master’s and PhD students from Denmark and Bangladesh, Thilsted went on to continue to detail the nutrient composition of small fish finding they are high in many micronutrients, fatty acids that are essential for the cognitive development of children and the health of mothers. With her growing body of evidence on the nutritional composition, Thilsted set out to increase consumption of small fish, especially for women and their children in the first 1000 days of life, the most critical period for nutrition in a child’s development.

1992-2009

Sharing knowledge on human nutrition at the University of Copenhagan

Between 1992 and 2009, Thilsted was an Associate Professor at University of Copenhagen, Denmark in the Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences where she specialized in nutrition in low-income countries.

1992-2004

Shaping the nutrition agenda in the Nordic

Thilsted served as a board member and member of the steering committee for the Nordic Network for Nutrition.

1992

Shaping the nutrition agenda in the European Union

Thilsted took a role as the coordinator for the European Union NECTOR (Natura European Community Training programme for Agricultural universities in southern Regions) and NATURA (Network of European Agricultural (Tropical and subtropical oriented) Universities and scientific complexes related with agricultural development program Food and Nutrition Sciences. Between 1996-2004 she was a member of the Steering Committee of the European Forum for International Nutrition and also became a member of the Steering Committee of the European Forum for International Nutrition between 1998-2004.

1995

Evaluating diets in Egypt

Thilsted worked in Egypt as a nutrition consultant with UNICEF and the Egyptian government studying local nutritious foods for young children and their mothers.

1996

Developing IFAD's nutrition strategy

Thilsted was contracted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to contribute to the development of its nutrition strategy.

1996-2004

Nutrition-sensitive approaches to pond production in Bangladesh

Thilsted led a team Bangladeshi and Danish students and researchers in developing pond polyculture systems, farming small fish together with large fish. Contrary to popular belief at the time, small fish did not compete with large fish for space or food. Instead, the approach increased total productivity by as much as five times, as well as enhancing species diversity and nutritional value of the production. Pond polyculture stopped the use of pesticides to eliminate competition from the small, lower-yielding native fish species before farmers stocked their ponds with more marketable fish such as carp or tilapia.

1997-now

Nutrition-sensitive integrated farming practices

Guided by her insights into the role of fish in increasing the absorption of minerals from plant-source foods, Thilsted worked to create highly nutritious combinations of dried fish, high-iron rice and vitamin A-rich orange sweet potato. She then promoted pond polyculture together with sweet potato and vegetable cultivation as a practical way for rice farmers to diversify their farms and diets.

1997

Nutrition-sensitive fish-based products

Thilsted creating innovative, ready-to-use, fish-based foods especially targeted for mothers and their young children, who are particularly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies. Building on popular local recipes, she developed original whole dried fish food products, such as fish chutney and fish powder, with four times the nutrient density of fresh fish. Improvements in processing practices also resulted in reduced fish waste and loss and increased incomes for entrepreneurs, most of them women, who produced these value-added foods.

1998

Nutrition-sensitive innovations encourage women’s engagement in fish production

Consumption of fish in the home increased when Thilsted introduced an inexpensive, homemade gillnet designed for women to easily harvest mola in small amounts for daily household use. Importantly, though mola only accounted for 15 percent of production by weight, it contributed 54 percent of vitamin A, 42 percent of vitamin B12 and a quarter of the calcium and iron of the needs of a family of four.

1998-2006

Joining the UN on nutrition

Thilsted was selected to represent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark at the United Nations ACC/SCN (Administrative Committee on Coordination / Sub-committee on Nutrition) annual meetings.

2003-2004

Researching nutritious foods for HIV/AIDS patients in Africa

Thilsted moved with her family to Kenya where she worked with the world bank on food nutrition strategies for those living with HIV/ AIDS. During this period she also worked to develop best practices in the delivery of immunisation services in Ethiopia, Malawi and Kenya.

2004

Influencing nutrition-sensitive policy shifts in Bangladesh

Thilsted efforts to promote pond polyculture paid off in 2004 when the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock banned cleaning ponds and prohibited the use of pesticides to kill naturally occuring fish. Thilsted had convinced the leadership of a nation to convert to practices that were not only more economical and nutrition-sensitive, but reduced environmental pressures, habitat loss and health risks in rural communities.

2004-2009

Joins CGIAR to work with HarvestPlus

In 2004, Thilsted became a member of the steering committee of Harvest Plus and coordinated the introduction and scaling orange sweet potato in Sichuan Province, China. In Kenya, Thilsted coordinated a HarvestPlus project to estimate the bioavailability of iron and zinc in bean varieties from Kenya. She later went on to continue this work with orange fleshed sweet potato measuring the content of β-carotene and other provitamin A.

2005-2010

Working with the World Food Programme in Nepal

As a consultant for the World Food Programme in Nepal, Thilsted led the development and implementation of a nutrition strategy and micronutrient supplementation intervention under World Bank supported 'Nepal Food Crisis Response Programme.' During this time Thilsted also worked to build nutrition-sensitive approaches to inland aquaculture with women farmers.

2010 - 2015

WorldFish in Bangladesh

Shakuntala joined WordFish based in Bangladesh where she ran the nutrition and health components of the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), led by WorldFish and in Livestock and Fish (L&F) program, led by ILRI. Consolidating her nutrition-sensitive approaches in Bangladesh, she was able to scale these approaches through Asia and Africa, including Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Zambia. In these countries and others, she has spearheaded curriculum development and capacity-building at universities and national research institutions and advised governments and international and regional development agencies regarding nutrition-sensitive food systems.

2011

Shaping the growth of aquaculture

In 2011, Thilsted became a member of the board of directors for Aquaculture without Frontiers where she serves until this day.

2013

Bahavior campaign has impact in Bangladesh

With funding from the World Bank, Thilsted designed and implented a successful behaviour change campaign promoting the consumption of small fish for mothers and their children in Bangladesh

2015 - 2018

WorldFish in Cambodia

While at WorldFish, Thilsted led the nutrition component of the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Fish Agri-food Systems (FISH) and contributed to the Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by IFPRI. She also colloborated with organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, African Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on aquatic food-based food programs to improve the health and nutrition of mothers and their children.

2016

Nutrition-sensitive approaches backed in Bangladesh policy

BRAC and the Copenhagen Consensus Center evaluated Thilsted’s pond polyculture system as more cost-effective at supplying nutrients than vegetable gardening in Bangladesh. For supplying vitamin A alone, pond polyculture generated USD3.5 of benefits for each dollar spent. This conclusion prompted the government of Bangladesh to promote pond polyculture as the foremost food-based intervention in its country investment plan, dramatically increasing the supply and consumption of fish produced across the country by smallholder farmers, 60 percent of them women. Since 2000, aquaculture production in Bangladesh has increased threefold and the sector now supports 18 million people, making Bangladesh the fifth largest aquaculture producer in the world. Increased incomes and access to nutritious fish contributed to Bangladesh cutting chronic hunger by more than half and the number of underweight children by one quarter within the same period.

2017

Pioneering global network on aquatic foods

Thilsted was a founding member of of the Global Action Network on Sustainable Food. Her involvement includes mobilizing activities for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

2018 - Now

Joins WorldFish in Penang

Since 2018, Thilsted has been based at WorldFish headquarters in Penang. In 2021, she was appointed as Global Lead, Nutrition and Public Health where she shapes the development and implementation of the nutrition component of the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy: Aquatic Foods for Healthy People and Planet.

2018

Supporting the EAF-Nansen project

Thilsted joined researchers to support the implementation of the ecosystem approach in the management of marine fisheries in Developing Countries as part of the FAO EAF-Nansen project.

2018

Aquatic foods boost health for Rohingya refugees

Thilsted worked with WorldFish and the World Food Programme to improve the access and consumption of safe aquatic foods among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. By working with local fisheries and groups of women entrepreneurs, the innitative has expanded the supply of solar-dried fish to local shops serving the community, making dried fish and fish products an easily accessible source of nutrition for refugees.

2020

Honorary Doctor of Agricultural Science

Thilsted was appointed honorary doctor at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences.

2020

Food System Summit

Appointed Champion and the Vice-chair of Action Track 4: Advance Equitable Livelihoods of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, Thilsted is guiding the Summit’s work related to building sustainable and equitable food systems and value chains that reduce risks and enable entrepreneurship.

2021

CGIAR deputy lead Asia MEGA-DELTAS innitiative

Thilsted was appointed to lead the development of a CGIAR wide research innitiative as part of its transition to One CGIAR.

2021

Aquatic foods for healthy, sustainable diets

Thilsted represented WorldFish in UN Nutrition’s core group and authored a discussion paper on the essential role of aquatic foods in sustainable healthy diets.

2021

Shakuntala Thilsted honored with Arrell Global Food Innovation Award

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, global lead for nutrition and public health at WorldFish, was named the recipient of the 2021 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for her pioneering nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems, in both fisheries and aquaculture, that honor local, culturally appropriate solutions to improve the nutrition, health and development of children and mothers across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Scientific work

Journal Article

Aquatic foods to nourish nations

Nature

nutrition; sustainable aquaculture; aquatic foods

2021-09-21

Analysis

Harnessing the diversity of small-scale actors is key to the future of aquatic food systems

Nature

nutrition; sustainable aquaculture; aquatic foods; Small-scale fisheries

2021-09-15

Journal Article

Blue food demand across geographic and temporal scales

Nature

nutrition; sustainable aquaculture; aquatic foods

2021-09-15

Discussion Paper

The role of aquatic foods in sustainable healthy diets

UN Nutrition

nutrition; sustainable aquaculture; aquatic foods

2021-05-01

Journal Article

Harnessing global fisheries to tackle micronutrient deficiencies

Nature, 574(7776): 95-98

fisheries; nutrition; research; nutrients; developing countries; marine fisheries; nutrient deficiencies; nutrient improvement

2019-10-04

blue paper

The Future of Food from the Sea

oceanpanel.org

sustainable aquaculture

2019-11-19

Journal Article

COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa’s aquatic food value chains

Elsevier

surveys; value chains; covid-19; supply chain disruptions; aquatic organisms; supply balance

2021-04-26

Journal Article

Dietary change in Bangladesh from 1985 to 2010

Elsevier

surveys; nutrition; households

2018-08-03

Journal Article

Sustaining healthy diets: The role of capture fisheries and aquaculture for improving nutrition in the post-2015 era

Elsevier

fisheries; aquaculture; food security; nutrition

2018-07-27

Journal Article

Homestead pond polyculture can improve access to nutritious small fish

Springer

mola; nutrition; gender; polyculture (aquaculture); sustainable aquaculture

2018-08-03

Journal Article

Inclusion of small indigenous fish improves nutritional quality during the first 1000 days

Sage Publications

research; nutrition; health; gender; fish

2018-08-03

Journal Article

Fisheries in transition: Food and nutrition security implications for the global South

Elsevier

aquaculture; policies; fisheries; food security; nutrition

2018-07-27

Journal Article

Farming fish in the sea will not nourish the world

Springer

aquaculture; equity; food security; nutrition; policies; sustainability; open ocean aquaculture; mariculture

2020-11-20

Perspectives and blogs

EMBRACE sustainable water and aquatic blue food diversity for climate smart food systems

Shakuntala participation as a speaker during the Plenary session for the Food Systems Pavilion day focused on Embracing sustainable water and aquatic blue food diversity for climate-smart food systems...

Food System Pavilion at COP27

14 Nov 2022

Video