This year's top prize honoring achievements in the battle against hunger has gone to two former presidents of developing countries whose policies cut their nations' hunger rates dramatically.

John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil were awarded the World Food Prize Thursday evening during a ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa.

The World Food Prize organization credits Mr. Kufuor with slashing the hunger rate in Ghana from 34 percent in 1990 to 9 percent in 2004. Mr. da Silva is praised for helping ensure more than 90 percent of Brazil's children ate three meals a day, while reducing the rate of extreme poverty from 12 percent in 2003 to less than 5 percent in 2009.

Previous winners of the World Food Prize include researchers, lawmakers and others leading anti-hunger efforts around the world.

The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in global agriculture.

The prize is awarded annually to individuals who make significant contributions toward improving food quality, quantity or availability.