World Food Prize 2015 to be conferred on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh

The World Food Prize Foundation on 1 July 2015 announced to confer the 2015 World Food Prize on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh.  He will be awarded the prize in October 2015 during the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium at Des Moines in Iowa, the USA.

He was selected for the coveted award by the Selection Committee for the World Food Prize headed by eminent Indian agricultural scientist Prof MS Swaminathan.

Sir Abed has been recognized for his decades of service to human development and through building Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) that operates in 10 countries around the world.

BRAC, set up by Sir Abed is the largest non-governmental organization in the world that employs over 150000 employees and covered a vast gamut of activities related to poverty alleviation and development.

About World Food Prize

• It is the foremost international award recognizing the accomplishments of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.
• It is a 250000 dollars award formally presented at the Laureate Award Ceremony in mid-October, on or around World Food Day (October 16), in conjunction with the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium.
• An individual or individuals having demonstrated exceptional achievement in any field involved in enhancing food production and distribution and increasing food availability and accessibility to those most in need are considered for this award.
• It was created in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Norman Borlaug. It was sponsored by businessman and philanthropist John Ruan who stepped forward to endow the Prize in 1990. Today John Ruan's son, John Ruan III has succeeded his father as chairman of the World Food Prize.
• M S Swaminathan was the first recipient of the award in 1987, who, incidentally, heads the present selection committee.
• The World Food Prize 2014 was awarded to Indian-born Mexican scientist Sanjaya Rajaram for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons building upon the successes of the Green Revolution.

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