One woman has helped improve nutrition and health for millions of people around the world. Now, she’s being recognized for her groundbreaking work.
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is this year’s World Food Prize winner. She grew up on the island of Trinidad and is a citizen of Denmark. She is the first woman of Asian heritage to win the prize.
Thilsted is a nutrition expert who pioneered innovative ways of raising fish that are rich in nutrients and fatty acids, and then explored ways to incorporate them into the diets of people in developing countries.
For example, in Bangladesh, the increased incomes and access to nutritious fish brought about by her work is estimated to have contributed to cutting chronic hunger by more than half and reducing the number of underweight children by one-quarter in the last 20 years.
Thilsted was awarded $250,000 in prize money. She says she’s doesn’t know how she will spend it yet, but hopes the award will provide a platform for her work and inspire other women to study science and take on a career in food and nutrition.
