World Food Day Celebration Focus on Agri Coops

Last October 16, 2012, 150 countries celebrated World Food Day by  focusing on agricultural cooperatives, which involve small-scale farmers and have the potential to make massive contributions to alleviate poverty and hunger given strong support from the government, civil society, and the academia.

According to the recent figures which was released a week ago by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the number of hungry people have decreased by 132 million compared to the figures 20 years ago. However, there are still about 870 million people who do not get enough food every day.

During the ceremony at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Director-General José Graziano da Silva emphasized the necessity of working towards total eradication of hunger, which is possible based on the developments witnessed in South America, Africa, and Asia.

"Agricultural cooperatives can help smallholders overcome these constraints," he said. "Cooperatives play a crucial role in generating employment, reducing poverty, and improving food security, and contributing to the gross domestic product in many countries." He also challenged the governments to do their part to create conditions that permit producer organizations and cooperatives to flourish.

Read FAO's media release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/162372/icode/.