World Food Day being observed tomorrow

Joint agriculture and social protection initiatives such as cash transfers and public work programmes help vulnerable rural households who typically face multiple constraints and risks. This is a virtuous circle as households have money disposable income, boosting demand for locally produced goods and services.

FAO is ready to assist countries through it activities such as agroecology, climate smart agriculture, Integrated Coastal Management, Sustainable Land Management and Forest Landscape Restoration, the Director-General said.

“With most poor and hungry people still living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture, twinning social protection with agricultural development programmes makes compelling sense”, said JongHa Bae, Viet Nam’s FAO representative.

“When shocks occur, [rural farmers] are often forced to cope in ways that increase their vulnerability or undermine their future income generation capacity”. The growing acceptance and proliferation of social protection in the developing world imply recognition of their ability to immediately address poverty and hunger.

FAO’s mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, improve the lives of rural population and contribute to the growth of world economy that no child, women or man has to live with food insecurity.

UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon called hunger “a awful injustice” as he marked World Food Day with a visit to the Milan Expo World’s Fair, which is focusing on food security and nutrition.

European agricultural cooperative Copa-Cogeca and Flemish Green party MEP Bart Staes. Such investments can break the self-perpetuating cycle of rural poverty.

Meanwhile, PIUS RUGONZIBWA from Mwanza reports that preparations are in advanced stages as Tanzania celebrates the World Food Day scheduled for today in Simiyu Region.

According to FAO, social protection helped lift up to 150 million people out of extreme poverty in 2013 alone.

The 2015 State of the Food Security in the World reported that social protection programs played a critical role in the progress of developing countries in achieving hunger targets related to Millennium Development Goals.

World Food Day has selected different themes every year to highlight areas needed to take action since 1981.

“We can end extreme poverty and hunger by 2030”.

Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb, representing Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the event, underscored the importance of providing solid development that would encourage people in rural areas to stay.

He added that many of these people worked in the informal sector, such as the self-employed or worked for someone who is self-employed, therefore they fell outside outside the reach of social protection schemes, including pensions. “There are more than enough resources to support sustainable agricultural development”.

Far from creating dependency or reducing work effort, social protection strengthens livelihoods.

It promotes human welfare, social security, social stability, economic growth and to live in dignity. “This will go hand in hand with greater health, economic development and social inclusion for individuals and societies”.