Dakar, Oct 7 (APS) – The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Qu Dongyu, pleaded, Monday, for the realization of the “right to food” whose aim is to ensure “healthy, nutritious and affordable food”.
“It is high time to realize the right to food, which aims to ensure healthy, nutritious and affordable food,” he said in a statement released ahead of International Food Day.
“The right to food for a better life and future” is the theme of this commemoration scheduled for October 16.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is striving “to make this right a reality, despite a series of challenges,” he assured in his statement.
If the right to food “does not, in itself, provide a direct solution to the problems of hunger and food diversity”, on the other hand, “it helps us define our collective aspirations for the model of a just and equitable world in which we want to live,” Mr. Dongyu argued.
The right to food also creates “concrete obligations that governments and key partners must fulfill to encourage us to play our role,” he said.
“In conflict zones, access to food is hampered, causing malnutrition and hunger,” he said. It adds that “in these areas and other hunger hotspots, FAO is working to rebuild agricultural infrastructure to ensure the availability and accessibility of food to ensure long-term food security, in using all possible tools and channels”.
“We need to emphasize this diversity, as well as the availability, accessibility and affordability of food products for all,” suggests Qu Dongyu.
According to him, “nearly a third of the world’s population does not consume the nutrients and micronutrients they need to thrive and, in some cases, survive.”
He also insists on “urgently improving” the quality of life for “nearly half of the planet’s inhabitants”.
“For the common good, a greater diversity of nutritious and affordable foods should be present in our fields, in our fishing nets, in our markets and on our tables,” he noted.
He believes that “the challenge is not only to meet the nutritional needs of the population, but also to ensure” the efficiency, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability of our agri-food systems.
In his opinion, the aim is to “respect traditional food cultures and healthy eating based on science, without deviating from personal preferences”.
FAO Director-General calls for collective action to change the situation. “With the collaboration of all sectors and partners globally, whether governments, the private sector, academia, civil society or individuals, collective action can be the driving force profound changes,” he says.
