Des Moines, Iowa, USA · 11 May 2021 — The World Food Prize Foundation announced that Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a nutrition scientist and the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, had been awarded the 2021 World Food Prize. The $250,000 prize recognised her pioneering research into the nutritional value of small indigenous fish species and her development of nutrition-sensitive aquatic food systems that have improved the health and livelihoods of millions of women and children across Asia and Africa.
Dr. Thilsted, of Trinidadian and Danish nationality, became the first woman of Asian heritage to receive the World Food Prize, often described as the Nobel Prize of food and agriculture.
From Feeding to Nourishing
The award marked a conceptual shift in how the global food security community thinks about the role of aquatic foods. For decades, the focus of agricultural research and food policy had been on increasing the production of staple cereals — rice, wheat, maize — to provide sufficient calories. Dr. Thilsted's research challenged this paradigm by demonstrating that small, indigenous fish species, often caught from rice paddies and small ponds, are exceptionally rich in the micronutrients and minerals that are most lacking in the diets of vulnerable populations.
The Nutritional Discovery
Dr. Thilsted's key finding was that small fish species — such as mola (Amblypharyngodon mola), dhela (Osteobrama cotio), and darkina (Esomus danricus) in Bangladesh and India — contain far higher concentrations of critical micronutrients per unit of edible weight than the larger, commercially farmed species that dominate aquaculture.
This is because small fish are eaten whole — including the head, bones, and viscera — which are the parts where most vitamins and minerals are concentrated. The bones provide calcium, the liver provides vitamin A, and the flesh provides high-quality protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.
| Nutrient | Small Fish (whole) | Large Fish (fillet only) |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin A | Very high (especially liver) | Low |
| Calcium | Very high (bones) | Negligible |
| Iron | High | Moderate |
| Zinc | High | Moderate |
| Vitamin B12 | High | High |
Nutrition-Sensitive Aquaculture
Beyond identifying the nutritional value of small fish, Dr. Thilsted developed practical, low-cost methods for communities to raise these species locally. Her approach, termed nutrition-sensitive aquaculture, integrates nutrition and public health objectives into every stage of the aquatic food system — from production and processing to distribution and consumption.
In Bangladesh, she worked with farming households to introduce small fish species into existing pond polyculture systems, where they could be raised alongside larger carp species. The small fish reproduce naturally in the ponds, providing a continuous supply of nutrient-rich food that households can harvest regularly for home consumption, without needing to purchase from markets.
She also developed processing methods to make small fish more acceptable and convenient for consumption — including fish-based chutneys, pastes, and porridges that could be easily incorporated into family meals and complementary foods for young children.
Impact on the First 1,000 Days
A particular focus of Dr. Thilsted's work was the critical "first 1,000 days" — the period from conception through a child's second birthday. Nutritional deficiencies during this window can cause irreversible damage to physical growth, brain development, and immune function.
In Bangladesh, where her research was most extensively implemented, studies showed that incorporating small fish into the diets of pregnant and lactating women and young children improved micronutrient intake and reduced the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies. The approach was particularly effective because it relied on locally available resources and did not require expensive supplements or fortified foods.
Global Scaling
Dr. Thilsted's work has been implemented in numerous countries across Asia and Africa, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Zambia, and Malawi. In each context, the approach was adapted to local fish species, cultural preferences, and farming systems.
In Cambodia, the approach focused on the rich diversity of small fish species in the Tonle Sap lake ecosystem. In Zambia and Malawi, it was adapted to small inland fish ponds and integrated with existing agricultural systems. These programmes contributed to measurable reductions in chronic hunger and childhood underweight rates in participating communities.
The scaling of Dr. Thilsted's work was supported by WorldFish, a CGIAR research centre, and by partnerships with national governments, NGOs, and community-based organisations. The approach was also integrated into broader food system transformation efforts, including the UN Food Systems Summit process in 2021.
Elevating Aquatic Foods in Global Policy
The World Food Prize recognition had significance beyond Dr. Thilsted's individual contributions. It elevated the role of aquatic foods in international agricultural research and development, moving them from a peripheral concern to a central pillar of sustainable, healthy diets.
Historically, aquatic foods had received a small fraction of the research funding directed at terrestrial agriculture. The prize drew attention to this imbalance and helped catalyse new investments in fisheries and aquaculture research, particularly through CGIAR and partner institutions.
The Laureate's Background
Dr. Thilsted was born in Trinidad and Tobago and began her career studying animal nutrition at the University of the West Indies. She later moved to Denmark, where she earned her PhD in nutrition and began working on aquatic food systems. She joined WorldFish in 2004, where she led the organisation's nutrition and public health research programme.
Her career spanned decades of work at the intersection of nutrition science, aquaculture, and public health — a cross-disciplinary approach that was initially unusual in agricultural research but has since become more widely adopted.
Sources
- CGIAR, Nutrition Scientist Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted Awarded the 2021 World Food Prize:
- World Food Prize, 2021 Laureate — Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted:
- U.S. Department of State, 2021 World Food Prize Laureate:
- Scaling Up Nutrition, 2021 World Food Prize Laureate:
- Mississippi State University Fish Innovation Lab:
- International Science Council, The 2021 World Food Prize:
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