On Tuesday, the World Food Prize was awarded to a nutritionist who developed groundbreaking methods of growing fish abundant in micronutrients and fatty acids and introducing them into developing-country diets.

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, 71, was awarded the prize for her accomplishments in creating fish-based food systems and improves nutrition, wellness, and livelihoods for millions of people worldwide. She grew up on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and later became a Danish resident.

"Dr. Thilsted discovered out how to grow these nutrient-rich small fish locally and cheaply,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in remarks captured and presented at the declaration ceremony. "Millions of low-income households in several countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Burma, Zambia, and Malawi, are already consuming small fish daily, both dried and fresh, in everything from chutneys to porridge, offering essential nutrients to children and breastfeeding mothers which will shield them for a lifetime. That is entirely down to her.”

Also speaking were US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and UN Nutrition Chair Naoko Yamamoto. Thilsted was declared the winner by World Food Prize Foundation President Barbara Stinson.

The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug to acknowledge scientists and those who have increased food availability and quality. The $250,000 prize is awarded by a foundation located in Des Moines, Iowa.

Thilsted started her analysis in the 1980s in Bangladesh, where she was trying to improve the conditions of undernourished people. She started studying their diet after speaking with local women who informed her that consuming a variety of local small fish species made them healthier. She returned to Copenhagen and investigated the nutritional importance of tiny fish species in Bangladesh and, later, Cambodia.

"I would be able to determine the nutritional content of these tiny fish species and discovered that they have been exceptionally rich in numerous micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and most significantly that how they were contained were highly accessible and can be consumed by the human body," she told The Associated Press before of the ceremony through video from Penang, Malaysia.

The information brought her back to Bangladesh, where she learned how farmers raised fish to help them increase their productivity and the nutritional value of their produce. Aquaculture was only starting in the country at the time, which now has 4 million domestic ponds breeding fish. The common practice at the time was to clean the ponds of all local small species before filling them with carp species, which were used as the main food fish and sold at market places.

Thilsted said that after several years of study, she and others demonstrated that farmers could raise big fish alongside micronutrient-rich tiny local fish boosting the productivity and nutritional quality of the fish raised. "It was the system we used for the aquaculture solution, which I refer to as pond polyculture," she said.

Her studies, conducted with the assistance of international institutions such as UNICEF, the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Bank, strengthened scientific understanding of the role of fish in diets. The reforms she tried to bring in had a huge impact on the diets and wages of some of the world's poorest people.

Bangladesh's aquaculture output has tripled since 2000, and now it is the world's fifth-highest, employing 18 million people. Increased productivity has boosted women's economic prospects in general, as they account for roughly 60% of fish farmers in the country working on small family-run businesses.

Thilsted has spent ten years working with WorldFish, a Malaysia-based multinational research organization that works on aquatic foods in developing nations in Africa Asia, and the Pacific region. The organization gave her the chance to broaden her fish-based culinary methods to several other countries with support from development organizations such as the CGIAR, a multinational alliance of organizations focusing on food security.

She is presently Worldfish's global leader for diet and public health. She also serves as a member of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, which guides the Committee on World Food Security, the largest UN group concerned with food and nutritional security.

Thilstead has discovered ways to bring the fish into the diets for extra nutrients.

She called for the common use of shelf-stable dried fish dust with enriched nutrients as a flavoring agent to be mixed with many other spices and added to other foods.

Thilsted expressed excitement at receiving the World Food Prize, noting that past recipients had concentrated on staple crops like rice, wheat, and corn. She wishes that the award will allow her to raise awareness regarding the importance of the diversity of food supplies, such as fish and other marine products.

"I could see that the award gives you a forum. I want to use that forum to move forward with the work I'm doing and to push the awareness of fish and aquatic products as being superfoods and essential in diets to provide nutrients to vulnerable populations, and in the communities where it makes complete sense to do so," said Thilsted, who said she didn't know how she'd utilize the prize money.

She also expressed her belief that her award would encourage women to seek a career in her field of study. "I, therefore, hope that through this opportunity and this award, I will encourage young women from developed countries to research science and pursue a career in food and nutrition because I believe it would be immensely fulfilling and useful for many," she said.