If you attend the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, you are very likely to hear about Norman Borlaug, no matter what you are studying or why you are there.

Norman Borlaug is a household name in Minnesota and a respected figure in agriculture and food security circles. A graduate of the U of M (class of 1937, Ph.D. in 1942), Borlaug is credited with launching the Green Revolution. Thomas Malthus’ fears of eventual worldwide famine were put to rest, at least for now, by Borlaug’s innovations in agriculture and the people who helped him spread new higher-yielding crop varieties worldwide.

While working at an agricultural research center in Mexico, Borlaug developed a higher-yielding variety of disease-resistant wheat. Historical accounts say Mexico’s wheat harvest expanded six-fold as a result. Borlaug then spread his innovation to India and Pakistan. Wheat yields in South Asia nearly doubled.

Norman Borlaug passed away in 2009. His work is credited with possibly saving 1 billion people from starvation. He is the ultimate food security champion. He is also the inspiration behind the World Food Prize and the annual Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, otherwise known as the Borlaug Dialogue.

The World Food Prize was his idea, but he had help making it a reality. This annual honor was brought to Iowa by a prominent businessman with strong support from local companies and the state government, which hosts the award ceremony at the state capitol and sent a statue of Borlaug to represent the state at the US Capitol.

The Borlaug Dialogue, one of the largest and most important annual events in Iowa and typically attended by multiple heads of state, will be held in Des Moines later this month. Five of us from Grow Further will be there. We were there last year, and we’re proud to once again become a part of this annual rite—we know and respect its history and how important the Dialogue is to all who are on a mission to achieve a more food-secure future.

Founding a tradition

Though it’s often called the “Nobel Prize for food,” the World Food Prize is far younger. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. The World Food Prize burst onto the scene in the 1980s.

Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work helping developing countries grow more food. It’s said that he came up with the idea for a World Food Prize shortly afterward—he knew that other inspiring work on food security would follow his own and that these future food security champions would deserve recognition.

Allies of Borlaug agreed, and the World Food Prize was born in 1986.  The General Foods Corporation under the leadership of A.S. Clausi, who was the vice president of the company at the time, agreed to become the founding sponsor. The organizers decided that World Food Prize recipients would receive a cash award of $200,000. Today’s Food Prize laureates receive $500,000.

As the first chairman of the prize, Clausi commissioned then-renowned Midwestern sculptor Saul Bass to design a physical representation of the Prize, a handheld sculpture to be given as a type of trophy along with the cash award. It only took a few months for Bass to present the World Food Prize committee with his creation, “an earth-colored stone bowl made of alabaster, resting on a slate base, with a pewter sphere sitting in its center,” as the World Food Prize Foundation explains on its website. “From the sphere, a wedge was removed, and the exposed interior was cut with a leaf design.”

Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan of India became the very first World Food Prize laureate in 1987.

John Ruan, Sr.

Determined to keep this new tradition alive, philanthropists mobilized to give the World Food Prize a permanent home and a permanent Foundation to oversee its operations. General Foods stayed on as a sponsor for a few more years, but in 1990, the sponsorship was taken up by an Iowa businessman and philanthropist named John Ruan, Sr. with help from Iowa’s governor and state legislature. Ruan moved the Foundation to Des Moines.

That’s how the Foundation and the Food Prize came to be headquartered in central Iowa, where Grow Further will be heading for the Borlaug Dialogue later this month.

The World Food Prize Foundation essentially sees John Ruan Sr. as its founding father. “Mr. Ruan endowed The Prize and relocated it to Des Moines in 1990 when its first sponsor withdrew,” the Foundation recalls. “Without Mr. Ruan’s generosity, the Prize and Dr. Borlaug’s vision could not have continued.” Today, dozens of companies and thousands of generous individuals support the Foundation and its work. 

An annual tradition

World Food Prize winners are announced every spring. Though they’ve been issued every year since 1987, formal award announcement ceremonies only began in 2004 when the United States Department of State hosted the first one. This year, the Prize goes to Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler for their efforts in creating the global seed vault in Svalbard, Norway. Dr. Fowler now serves as the State Department Special Envoy for Food Security. Fowler also launched the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) Champions program, of which Grow Further is proud to be a founding member.

These days, the newest laureates are invited to Des Moines in autumn to celebrate their accomplishments and share their thoughts at the Borlaug Dialogue, which was first held in 2014. Ten years later, the Borlaug Dialogue is considered the world’s top food security conference, drawing in past and present World Food Prize laureates, top government officials, noted agricultural researchers, and thousands of individuals committed to achieving food security and better nutrition for all.

Grow Further participated in the Borlaug Dialogue for the first time last year. While there, we announced our very first grant recipients and led an early morning panel discussing our work and how we are contributing to better food security.

If you happen to find yourself in Des Moines later this month, you should stop by the Borlaug Dialogue. We’ll be there at a table and throughout the event to make other important announcements and to invite others to join our mission.

Norman Borlaug may have inspired the World Food Prize, but it only became a reality thanks to the assistance he received from others and their generous support. Likewise, Dr. Peter Kelly founded Grow Further a few short years ago, but our work is only made possible thanks to individuals like you. Please spread the word and join us as we build support for research and development efforts that will transform the lives of smallholder farmers and the communities they serve.

 — Grow Further

Photo credit: Attendees get an early start at the Borlaug Dialogue in October 2023. Grow Further.