Do your bit: Focus on days highlighting international issues International Days and Observations
World Food Day
16 October
World Food Day is a designated international observance that focuses on the need to provide safe, sufficient and secure food resources for our everyday needs.

Millions of people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet, putting them at high risk of food insecurity and malnutrition. But ending hunger isn’t only about supply. Enough food is produced today to feed everyone on the planet.

The problem is access and availability of nutritious food, which is increasingly impeded by multiple challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, climate change, inequality, rising prices and international tensions.

2022
This year, the World Food Day focuses on
"Leave NO ONE behind"

We need to build a sustainable world
where everyone, everywhere has regular access
to enough nutritious food.
No one should be left behind.

World Food Day is also the day on which the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded in 1945. It was established by FAO's Member Countries at the Organization's Twentieth General Conference in November 1979.

The objectives of World Food Day are to:

  • encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end;
  • encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries;
  • encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;
  • heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world;
  • promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and
  • strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.
  1. Livestock contributes to nearly two thirds of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 78% of agricultural methane emissions.
  2. Climate change’s negative impact on natural resources underlines the increasing importance of using these resources sustainably.
  3. Agricultural production must rise by about 60% by 2050 in order to feed a larger population.
  4. Over 1/3 of food produced worldwide is lost or wasted. That amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year.
  5. By 2050, catches of main fish species are expected to decline by up to 40% in the tropics, where livelihoods, food and nutrition security strongly depend on the fisheries sector.
  6. Deforestation and forest degradation account for an estimated 10 - 11% of global GHG emissions.
  7. The world aims to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. Climate change is a challenge that must be addressed in order to continue the fight against hunger and achieve this goal.
UN Food and Agricutlre Organization

Additional Resources:

SDG Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

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