World Food Day: FAO addresses food security concerns as global population swells

16 Oct 2017 --- As a way to mark World Food Day 2017 (October 16), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with governments, UN agencies, the private sector, civil society and local communities, to generate evidence on migration patterns. The agency is also building countries’ capacities to address migration through rural development policies as it supports governments and partners as they explore the developmental potential of migration, especially in terms of food security and poverty reduction.

FAO says one way to combat a globally growing population and the food insecurity that brings, is to change the future of migration, invest in food security and rural development.

“The world is on the move. More people have been forced to flee their homes than at any time since the Second World War due to increased conflict and political instability. But hunger, poverty, and an increase in extreme weather events linked to climate change are other important factors contributing to the migration challenge,” it says. 

Large movements of people are presenting complex challenges, which call for global action. Many migrants arrive in developing countries, creating tensions where resources are already scarce, but the majority, about 763 million, move within their own countries rather than abroad.

Three-quarters of the extreme poor base their livelihoods on agriculture or other rural activities. Creating conditions that allow rural people, especially youth, to stay at home when they feel it is safe to do so and to have more resilient livelihoods, is a crucial component of any plan to tackle the migration challenge.

Rural development can address factors that compel people to move by creating business opportunities and jobs for young people that are not only crop-based, such as small dairy or poultry production, food processing or horticulture enterprises. 

It can also lead to increased food security, more resilient livelihoods, better access to social protection, reduced conflict over natural resources and solutions to environmental degradation and climate change. 

By investing in rural development, the international community can also harness migration’s potential to support the development and build the resilience of displaced and host communities, thereby laying the ground for long-term recovery and inclusive and sustainable growth, adds FAO. 

World Food Day supported by CropLife Asia
World Food Day CropLife Asia has commended the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for its efforts to bring greater awareness to the need for Food Security in combatting global hunger, and took the opportunity to herald the contributions farmers enabled by plant science technologies are making in Asia and around the world are making to feed a growing population. 

According to data from the FAO, world hunger is on the rise with an estimated number of undernourished people increasing from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016. Meanwhile, the Food Security situation has also visibly worsened in parts of the world, including South Eastern and Western Asia. 

“The number of people in Asia without adequate access to a safe and nutritious food supply is growing – and that's simply unacceptable,” said Dr. Siang Hee Tan. “The responsibility to ensure everyone has enough healthy food to eat is a shared one. The plant science industry fully supports the FAO in the pursuit of wiping out world hunger, and is committed to ensuring farmers in Asia are empowered and enabled to produce more food for a growing population.” 

According to the UN, the world's population is projected to exceed nine billion inhabitants by the year 2050, and Asia alone is expected to have roughly one billion more people living within it. 

Growers around the world will need to produce as much as 70 percent more food than today to meet the expected needs of our population by 2050, while facing a host of obstacles including climate change. The numerous innovations of plant biotechnology and crop protection will be key in driving sustainable production of a safe and nutritious food supply to feed our growing population.

“FAO numbers indicate that 85 percent of the world's 525 million smallholder farmers live and work within our continent,” added Dr. Tan. “These farmers are crucial to combatting hunger in Asia; they deserve our support and access to the latest technological tools to grow more food with fewer natural resources.”

Crop protection products prevent nearly 40 percent of global rice and maize harvests from being lost every year. Meanwhile, biotech crops helped slow the advance of climate change by reducing carbon emissions. For example, it is estimated biotech crop plantings in 2015 reduced carbon emissions by 26.7 billion kg which is equivalent to taking 11.9 million cars off the road for one year.

Unilever marks World Food Day by turning food posts into real meals
Unilever’s President of Food, Amanda Sourry, has spoken out about the company’s support for World Food Day which aims to promote global awareness and action to achieve food security and nutritious diets worldwide. And to mark the date, Sourry shares how Unilever is supporting WFD this year through its brands, chefs, partnerships and a social media campaign #ShareTheMeal.

Posting and sharing good food is a daily pastime of millions of food lovers all over the world and now every time Knorr’s #ShareTheMeal post is shared or retweeted on Facebook and Twitter, Knorr will donate the equivalent of one meal via The World Food Program (WFP), up to a total of 1.5 million meals. 

By donating via WFP’s system of cash-based transfers, Knorr’s contribution will give families in need the means to choose and buy their own food with dignity and freedom.

Sourry describes how Unilever CEO Paul Polman joined global leaders in New York last month for the UN General Assembly, where he affirmed the importance of the role of business in helping to deliver the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the shared Global Goals for a better world.

“World Food Day is a chance to demonstrate our support for SDG 2 – Achieving Zero Hunger. Through our commitment to sustainable nutrition and our ambition to be a progressive food company, we are working to make more high-quality, nutritious food available and accessible,” says Sourry.

“On this World Food Day, I am proud to share the ways our brands, our chefs and our partners are working to inspire people to cook delicious, nutritious meals for themselves and for others, and to help feed a growing world with healthy food from a healthy planet.”