Powerful 2026 Borlaug Dialogue Opens as Prize Turns 40

• Nobel Laureate, and Tanzanian Prime Minister headline three-day Dialogue alongside Hollywood actors Martin Sheen and Nick Offerman and Ministers from Ghana, Liberia, the United States and Uzbekistan.
• Dutch food safety pioneer to be recognized as 2026 World Food Prize Laureate.
• Over 1,000 volunteers aim to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title and package 600,000 hunger relief meals in one hour.

Des Moines, Iowa.

(October 20, 2026) – The 2026 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue opened today.

It brings together more than 1,200 leaders from more than 65 countries.

The World Food Prize marked its 40th anniversary.

The three-day 2026 Borlaug Dialogue will focus on urgent action to protect and strengthen global food security.

This comes at a time when conflict, climate shocks and economic pressures push more people into hunger.

For 40 years, the World Food Prize has honored those who refused to accept hunger as inevitable.

Moreover, the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue, themed ‘Before Hunger Wins,’ is a call to act with the same urgency.

Mashal Husain, President, World Food Prize Foundation, said it.

Delegations from around the world are gathering at the Iowa Events Center to hear how collaboration and shared purpose can transform global food systems. 

The 2026 Borlaug Dialogue opens with Martin Sheen delivering a keynote about finding the next Norman E. Borlaug.

Additionally, Nick Offerman will join regenerative agriculture leaders Mary Berry and James Rebanks.

Moreover, they will discuss how farming can restore land and feed the world, with Professor Robert Montgomery.

Cary Fowler, the 2024 World Food Prize Laureate, will lead a high-level discussion on how conflicts disrupt food access. As part of the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue, he is joined by 2010 Laureate David Beckmann.

Henk van Duijn, Michael Werz, and Purvi Mehta join the discussion. Turner Foundation Chair Laura Turner Seydel will join Foundation CEO Thomas Vilsack to discuss why global cooperation on agriculture matters.

Marking the International Year of the Woman Farmer, farmers from Germany, the United States, and Ecuador will share experiences.

Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Rajiv Shah will present the Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application.

The award will honor Pamela Afokpe and the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue Top Agri-food Pioneers from 30 countries.

Opening day will close with an attempt to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title.

In partnership with Meals from the Heartland, more than 1,000 volunteers will package 600,000 meals.

They aim to surpass the current record of 530,064.

“This week, leaders from every corner of the food system are coming together to find solutions that work to the global food security crisis,” said Vilsack. “We have the science and the tools, and what we need now is the will to use them.”

Over the next three days, the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue will welcome Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Additionally, Her Serene Highness Princess Tatjana of Liechtenstein and Hon. Dr. Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba will attend.

Moreover, Nchemba serves as Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Finally, the week will culminate in the presentation of the 2026 World Food Prize to Huub Lelieveld.

As a result, he is honored for establishing global food safety standards and harmonizing food regulations worldwide.

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