The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will mark the World Food Day tomorrow at its headquarters in Rome. This happens every year on October 16, the anniversary date of the FAO's foundation.
This year's World Food Day is entitled "Family Farming: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth." The theme has been chosen to raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers.
The FAO draws world attention to the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihood, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.
In 1996 in Rome, FAO organized the World Food Summit, attended by 112 heads or deputy heads of state and government. The leaders concluded with the signing of the Rome Declaration, which established the goal of halving the number of people who suffer from hunger by the year 2015.
The FAO, by marking World Food Day in addition to its ordinary programs and major projects, seeks to make people and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) be aware of continuing risks of hunger and malnutrition.
The FAO also aims at getting direct support to help the poor families by small-sized enterprises in addition to helping them depend on their selves and manage their livelihood.
This year's theme was chosen to show the importance of agriculture and small-scale farmers and catch the world attention that the FAO is playing a key role in facing hunger and providing food security.
The FAO's celebration is considered a symbol that attracts international community with all classes very year for achieving a humanitarian duty towards peoples who suffer from hunger and malnutrition.
The Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will be among speakers at the tomorrow's World Food Day in Rome.
A statement issued by the FAO said the Committee on World Food Security would convene at the FAO headquarters near the Circus Maximus, from October 13-18, to discuss policies in relation to food losses and waste, and how sustainable fisheries could support food security and nutrition.
Earlier this week, FAO Director-General Josأ© Graziano da Silva opened the 41st session on the FAO's Committee on World Food Security as it is an important intergovernmental platform of stakeholders of issues of food security and nutrition.
He said that there is an ongoing progress for eradicating hunger, adding that the number of people who suffer from hunger dropped to 8.5 million across the globe.
In spit of this progress, he said, eradication hunger still poses a huge challenge which affects any attempt to improve living conditions.
The FAO hailed last year Kuwait for its humanitarian role in helping peoples.