Simon Nanne Groot, a pioneering Dutch agronomist who dedicated his life to bringing high-quality hybrid vegetable seeds to smallholder farmers globally, died Sunday at age 90 in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands, where he was born.
Groot was the founder of East-West Seed, a Thailand-based for-profit vegetable seed company that aims to improve the livelihoods of subsistence farmers. In 2019, Groot was awarded the World Food Prize, which is regarded as the Nobel Prize of food and agriculture, for his efforts that lifted millions of smallholder farmers out of poverty in more than 80 countries by providing them with quality seeds, along with training and education on improved cultivation techniques. His work also made nutritious vegetables — and healthy diets — more affordable and accessible for hundreds of millions of consumers.
Groot lived and worked by a simple mantra: You serve the farmer first.
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Tania Karas@TaniaKaras
Tania Karas is a Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development and humanitarian aid in the Americas. Previously, she managed the digital team for The World, where she oversaw content production for the website, podcast, newsletter, and social media platforms. Tania also spent three years as a foreign correspondent in Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon, covering the Syrian refugee crisis and European politics. She started her career as a staff reporter for the New York Law Journal, covering immigration and access to justice.
