Why Malala Yousafzai, Nick Offerman and Martin Sheen are in Des Moines
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Malala Yousafzai speaks during Rio Innovation Week 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August. Photo: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images
Malala Yousafzai, Martin Sheen and Nick Offerman are among the high-profile guests in Des Moines this week for the World Food Prize's 40th anniversary.
Why it matters: For a few days, our unassuming Midwest city becomes a mini "United Nations" where diplomats and celebrities from around the world discuss how to end food insecurity.
Driving the news: The three-day event starts Tuesday at the Iowa Events Center with more than 1,400 people from over 50 countries expected to attend, World Food Prize Foundation president Mashal Husain tells Axios.
- The week culminates Thursday with the presentation of the $500,000 World Food Prize, often called the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture."
- This year's recipient is Dutch scientist Huub Lelieveld, whose work improving food safety standards has helped prevent millions of foodborne illnesses worldwide.
How it started: Iowa native and agronomist Norman Borlaug was working on a wheat research project in Mexico in the 1940s when he began developing new varieties.
- Borlaug and his team grew disease-resistant, higher-yielding wheat with shorter, sturdier stalks that could support heavier heads of grain without falling over.
- The new varieties, combined with improved farming practices, helped Mexico produce enough wheat to meet its own needs as a parasitic fungus destroyed crops.
- Borlaug later brought his research to India and Pakistan in the 1960s, helping the countries increase food production.
Yes, but: He's also faced critiques over dependence on fertilizer and displacing smaller-yield farmers.
Flashback: Borlaug established the World Food Prize in 1986 after unsuccessfully pushing for a Nobel Prize recognizing agricultural achievements.
- The prize is awarded annually, with this year's recipient receiving $500,000.
What they're saying: Husain says she particularly wanted Nobel Peace Prize winner Yousafzai because of her work advocating for girls' education. She will speak Wednesday morning.
- "When you educate a young girl, you change the trajectory of her life," Husain says. "You change her future generations, and that has a direct link to hunger alleviation."
Zoom in: Other speakers include some recognizable names:
- Sheen, an actor known for his roles on "The West Wing" and "Grace & Frankie," will deliver Tuesday morning's keynote, "The World Found Its Norman Borlaug Once — Who Will Have the Courage to Become the Next?"
- Offerman, who grew up on an Illinois farm, will speak about regenerative agriculture on Tuesday during a panel, "What if the Land Stops Giving?"
What's next: Around 1,000 volunteers will attempt to break a Guinness World Record Tuesday evening by packaging 600,000 hunger-relief meals in one hour.
- Half the meals will stay in Iowa, while the other half will go abroad through Meals from the Heartland.