The award, comprising a certificate, medallion and cash prize of $50,000, was conferred to him at a ceremony in Philippines capital Manila by the country's Chief Justice, Artemo Panganiban.
This is not the first time that Sainath has been honoured for his notable work, focusing on pressing issues of rural development.
He was the first journalist to win Amnesty International's Global Human Rights Journalism prize in its inaugural year in 2000. He also received the A H Boerma Award in 2001 and 2003-04 Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis.
The author of the highly-acclaimed Everybody Loves a Good Drought was once referred to by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen as 'one of the world's great experts on famine and hunger.'
Image: P Sainath receives the Magsaysay award from Philippine Chief Justice Artemo Panganiban.
Photograph: Getty Images