About WYI

What is the World Food Prize Foundation? 

The World Food Prize Foundation  is the foremost international award recognizing — without regard to race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs — the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

The World Food Prize Foundation offers several youth programs to engage high school students in global food security issues, including the Global Challenge Research Paper. The World Food Prize Foundation’s Global Challenge curriculum is designed to empower high school students to explore, analyze and solve the world’s most pressing problems related to global food security, agriculture and sustainability. The Foundation believes that elevating young voices is crucial to creating a more food-secure and sustainable world.

What is the Global Youth Institute?

The Global Youth Institute (GYI) is an exciting three-day program, hosted in conjunction with the World Food Prizes’ Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, where young leaders interact with Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates and the more than 1,000 global leaders from 65 countries attending the World Food Prize’s annual international symposium.

During the GYI, students will present the same research from their respective youth institutes before a panel of roundtable of experts and other student delegates from around the globe. Each discussion group of seven to nine students is led by three distinguished global leaders in science, industry, and policy. Delegates also get to participate in an interactive group project focused on global food security challenges, and attend workshops, where they will learn from leaders on issues related to food security, agriculture, climate change, and sustainability.

Student’s papers are subsequently published in the Global Youth Proceedings on the World Food Prize Foundation website and are available online.

GYI delegates are chosen from each state’s youth institute, Wisconsin is typically able to send three-five delegates to the event. There is a travel stipend for both the student and their mentor, although mentor attendance and participation is not required. Check out this article recapping the 2025 Wisconsin Youth Institute, the delegates and their trip to GYI.