15 World Food Prize Laureates Issue Urgent Appeal At UN Food Summit in Rome To Save One Billion At Risk of Starvation and Malnutrition

6/9/2002

From: Jayson White of The World Food Prize Foundation, 515-245-3794 or 515-245-3783

DES MOINES, Iowa, June 9 -- On June 9, the founder of The World Food Prize, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and the 15 living World Food Prize Laureates will release a powerful statement which urges that scientists and nations work together to "strengthen the research and policy framework underpinning the necessary productivity increases in agriculture, livestock, and aquatic resources in an environmentally sustainable manner."

At the invitation of FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, Dr. Borlaug and Indian plant geneticist M.S. Swaminathan, the first World Food Prize Laureate, will highlight the Laureates' Statement during their keynote presentations at special session of the FAO Food Summit on "success stories" in agricultural development on June 11.

Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of The World Food Prize Foundation, said, "The cumulative scientific, political and development efforts of Dr. Borlaug and The World Food Prize Laureates -- who hail from China, India, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Denmark, England and the United States -- have saved over 1 billion people from famine and starvation." "On the eve of this critical food summit in Rome, their voice surely deserves to be heard," the Ambassador stressed.

The complete text of the statement will be available on The World Food Prize Web site beginning June 9 at: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/statement.htm

Founded by 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, The World Food Prize, considered the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture," is a $250,000 award, inspiring and recognizing contributions to the quality, quantity, and availability of food in the world.

Sponsored by Iowa Philanthropist John Ruan, The World Food Prize Foundation, now celebrating its 15th Anniversary year, awards the annual World Food Prize, holds a two-day International Symposium on cutting-edge topics related to international development and global food security, and sponsors The World Food Prize Global Youth Institute, which brings together noted researchers and laureates and talented high school students and sends select students on 8-week Internships at world renowned agricultural research centers.