World Food Day
16 October 2013

 

16 October 2013 is World Food Day.  The day is about recognising the worldwide problem of hunger.   And this year the theme for the day is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition”.   

However, it is not just about donating food to the world's hungry and undernourished peoples. It is about doing something to help them help themselves. If I was hungry and someone gave me a plough to farm my land I would be far more grateful than if they gave me a sack of potatoes.If I had a plough I could be self-sufficient and produce my own food.That is what the day is trying to encourage.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation is a division of the United Nations, and is responsible for World Food Day.  Along with raising awareness of hunger and poverty, the day aims to encourage economic and technological cooperation between different governments and with non-governmental organisations.

With an estimated 1.02 billion malnourished people across the globe it is a pretty serious matter and worth the public and private investment that is being sought out.So that's why it is important to raise awareness via World Food Day.

Have you heard of stomach binding?  Ziporra Mbungo ties a rope tight around her stomach so that she can stave off hunger pangs – food is scarce and she gives what little food she does have to her grandchildren.
 
What kind of world are we living in when a human being needs to do this? This method is in common use right now in Somalia.  After one of the worst droughts experienced in more than fifty years the current famine has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people and more are dying.

There are a number of factors that decide whether famine will be declared.  Some of these factors include whether 20% of the population is living on less than 2,100 calories, the presence of civil war and when people have access to less than four litre of water per day.

They need aid right now and that means sending food and water.  It might be time for World Food Day yet, but the struggle against hunger should be fought all year round.