SNV in Bangladesh celebrates World Food Day

On 16 October 2018, SNV in Bangladesh celebrated World Food Day under its EU-funded “Improving Consumer Awareness and Access to Certified Safe Tomato and Mango Products in Bangladesh” project . The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rajshahi District, and nine Sub Districts of Rajshahi and Natore Districts joined the celebrations.

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many organisations working for food security.

According to the Food Aid Foundation, about 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in nine people on earth. There is enough food on this planet but not everyone has the access to it due to unequal distribution.

A major independent report, sited by the World Food Programme and led by a team of national experts, found that an alarmingly large number of people still remain food insecure and hungry, and most people do not have a sufficiently nutritious and diverse diet. More than one in three children are still afflicted by stunted growth, and acute malnutrition has not decreased significantly over many years. On top of this, there are emerging concerns with food security and nutrition as a result of socio-economic and climate changes.

After the inauguration ceremony of World Food Day, SNV staff and farmer groups involved in SNV's project attended a rally followed by a discussion orgsanised by the Department of Agriculture Extension and the SNV's EU SWITCH-Asia project. Representatives of the government, non-governmental institutions and private organisations also joined the event.

Muhammad Golamur Rahman, DC-Natore stated that “Bangladesh is now producing more food than it did ten years ago. We should continue this progress”. The event was closed with a brief summary of the EU SWITCH-Asia project.