Two major contributors to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault win the World Food Prize for 2024.
The World Prize Foundation announces that “Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler will receive the 2024 World Food Prize for their extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the world’s heritage of biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource to defend against threats to global food security.”
In 2004, Dr. Cary Fowler and Dr. Geoffery Hawtin were commissioned by the Norwegian government to prepare a study for the potential for an international seed storage facility in Svalbard. Dr. Geoff Hawtin was later appointed to prepare a report on technical, administrative, and political issues. This work was an important input to Norway’s establishment and operation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. For many years, Dr. Cary Fowler led the Global Crop Diversity Trust, one of the two organizations that Norway cooperates with on the management and operation of the seed vault. He also became the first chair of the Seed Vault’s International Advisory Panel (2008–2010).
First and foremost, the two experts have contributed to increased awareness and good solutions for intergovernmental cooperation on the conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture.