WorldFish scientist Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted will be a featured speaker at this year's 2015 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, October 14-16 as part of the World Food Prize annual series of events in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The event’s focus is described as ‘sustainably and nutritiously feeding the 9 billion people who will inhabit our planet in 2050’.
Dr Thilsted is recognized for “exceptional global leadership and foremost expertise in the area of fish and nutrition”. She will participate in a high-level panel chaired by 2001 World Food Prize laureate Dr. Per Pinstrup-Andersen. This year’s high-level panel discussion will focus on the importance of aquaculture to global food security.
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is Senior Nutrition Scientist at WorldFish. Formerly with the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, her broad area of research is improved food and nutrition security in low-income countries. She is a world authority on the potential of nutrient-rich small fish in combating and preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies. She has carried out work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, West Bengal, Nepal and Zambia.
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted: “I am honored to be invited to present to this prestigious audience and I will take the opportunity to promote two key messages. The first is the huge value that fish has in sustainably supporting food and nutrition security in some of the world’s most impoverished communities. Secondly as a female scientist from the developing world, I will also hope to be able to inspire young women and girls to pursue education and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).”
The World Food Prize, which has been called "The Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture," was created in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and "Father of the Green Revolution" Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. It is considered by many to be the world's most prestigious gathering for improving food security, agriculture and nutrition, and reducing hunger and poverty globally. Held each year on or around World Food Day, it attracts 1,300 people from over 60 countries, gathering international leaders and thinkers for high-level conversations on critical issues in fighting hunger.
Speakers at previous conferences have included: H.E. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General; Hon. Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain; H.E. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, president of Iceland; H.E. Joachim Chissano, former president of Mozambique; H.E. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil; H.E. John A. Kufuor, former president of Ghana; and Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
For more information or to request an interview contact:
Toby Johnson, Senior Media Relations Manager
Mobile Tel: +60 (0) 175 124 606
Email: t.johnson@cgiar.org
Web: worldfishcenter.org
Photography: flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/
About WorldFish
WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization that harnesses the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. Globally, more than one billion poor people obtain most of their animal protein from fish and 800 million depend on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods. WorldFish is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
About CGIAR
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research Centers that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partners.