UN food body vows to end famine

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

World Hunger Day this year will be celebrated with the theme of Zero Hunger, said Viorel Gutu, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) representative in Turkey.

"This year, World Food Day aims to remind the international community of its fundamental political commitment to humanity -- the eradication of all forms of malnutrition -- and raise awareness that achieving a zero-hunger world by 2030 is still possible," Gutu told Anadolu Agency.

A World Food Day celebration will be held on Oct. 17 in Istanbul with FAO's "main partner" the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, the Sustainability Academy and Turkish Food and Beverage Employers Association (TUGIS) as part of the Sustainable Food Conference, Gutu said.

"We want to reach all of our partners on this special day to renew our commitment and, even more important, the political support towards a sustainable world free from hunger and all forms of malnutrition," he said.

Gutu called to enhance governance and coordination mechanisms to facilitate dialogue and create incentives for different sectors.

Pointing out that people have become desensitized and disconnected to the fact that millions of people are hungry, Gutu said: "People need to adopt a new mindset byusing the Earth’s resources more wisely, following nutritious diets, and also changing day-to-day actions with the aim of reducing waste and taking on a more sustainable lifestyle."

He added that rural populations need to empower themselves by uniting and forming local cooperatives.

Gutu underlined that the number of undernourished people in the world increased for the third consecutive year in 2017.

"Last year, 821 million people suffered from hunger (11 percent of the world population -- one in nine people on the planet), most of them are living in poor rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia," Gutu said.

He added that the hunger rate in Turkey is among the lowest in the world.

"FAO estimates that the rate is less than 2.5 percent. However, the country is facing a high rate of obesity which is another form of malnutrition," he expressed.

Obesity should be public issue

Gutu also highlighted that urgent action should be taken to halt the increasing obesity rates, otherwise the number of obese people would exceed the number of undernourished people in the world.

"We need to address obesity as a public issue, not as an individual problem," Gutu said.

One third of food produced is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year, Gutu added.

"This means hunger is still one of the most urgent development challenges, and yet the world is producing more than enough food," Gutu said.

The FAO has been celebrating World Food Day since 1980.