Rome – The global ceremony marking World Food Day 2024 took place here today, with participants underlining the need for universal access to enough diverse, nutritious, affordable, and safe foods. The event came amid growing global tensions and conflicts and climate shocks, which are among factors contributing to the challenge of hundreds of millions of people worldwide facing hunger and billions being unable to afford a healthy diet.
Stressing that food is a basic human right, in his opening remarks, QU Dongyu, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), described this year’s World Food Day theme “Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future” as a timely reminder that all people have the right to adequate foods. He called for a renewed “commitment to build more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems that can nourish the world.”
Qu said such systems needed to “support smallholder farmers, family farmers and small business people across the value chain who, in many countries, are fundamental to making nutritious, diverse foods available to all, and to preserving traditional food cultures.” With around 730 million people facing hunger and more than 2.8 billion people globally unable afford healthy diets, the Director-General warned: “There is no time to lose, we must take immediate action.”
Global challenges
King Letsie III of Lesotho, FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition, said that in an example of positive change, the African Union’s Pan African Parliament, “has collaborated with FAO to develop a model law on food security and nutrition. This model law serves as a guiding framework, inspiring African Union member states to formulate their own legislation that upholds the right to adequate food as well as food security for all citizens. To facilitate the transition from this model law to concrete legislative action, parliamentary alliances have been established across the continent.” The King said: “This collaborative effort is crucial in ensuring that legislative measures are not only developed but also effectively implemented to address the pressing issues of food insecurity and malnutrition.”
In a message read on his behalf, Pope Francis said: “The intrinsic social and cultural dimension of the act of nourishment must not be forgotten. In this respect, political and economic decision-makers at the international level must listen to the demands of those at the bottom of the food chain, such as small-scale farmers, and of intermediate social groups, such as the family, who are directly involved in feeding people.”
In his video message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Something is very wrong with a world in which hunger and malnutrition are a fact of life for billions of children, women and men.” He said a zero-hunger world was possible, but “food systems need a massive transformation,” to become more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Italy, stressed the importance of the right to quality food for all. He underlined the need for agrifood systems transformation based on innovation and sustainability, more investments in research and development to boost the efficiency of production, reduce the harmful impacts of chemicals and pesticides and protect precious water resources.
Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme said: “We’re working with local communities to implement anticipatory action and early warning programs, to protect them against the devastating impacts of climate change. We’re continuing to collaborate with governments and other partners in a global movement to ensure every child, everywhere, receives a healthy school meal and an education.” WFP is partnering with the private sector to harness the potential of science, innovation and technology and has “proven, and scalable solutions to hunger, which support long-term resilience and reduce needs over time. But we need everyone on board to help us achieve a future free from hunger,” she said.
Gérardine Mukeshimana, Vice-President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) called for “urgent, collective and concrete investments in rural poor farmers to realize – at an absolute minimum – their basic right to nutritious food.” She noted that small-scale farmers produce almost half of the world’s food, though also struggling with hunger and poverty.
Ophelia Nick, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany, said: “All conflicts, wars and multiple crises are human-made and affect the state of food security in the world. It is our responsibility to foster multilateral cooperation to overcome these times of crises.”
Jeffrey Prescott, US Ambassador to the UN Agencies in Rome, said more people die from hunger and related causes globally than in armed conflicts. He described hunger in a world of human abundance as an insult to human dignity and stressed the importance of righting that wrong. Among the initiatives the Ambassador cited was cooperation with FAO and other partners on the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils to help transform agrifood systems.
During the ceremony, the Director-General also presented the prestigious FAO Achievement Award to the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (IPPCAAS).He described their groundbreaking work in combating the Fall Armyworm as having a profound impact, both in China and Asia and globally, making significant strides in protecting crops and securing food supplies.
FAO to turn 80
The celebration also included the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). This agreement involves work on FAO’s upcoming project of a Food and Agriculture Museum and Network, as part of a collaboration between FAO and host country, Italy.
To be inaugurated on 16 October 2025, to mark FAO’s 80th anniversary, the museum will serve as a permanent exhibition and educational space open to the public. It will explore FAO’s mandate in an interactive, digital environment. The Museum and Network will also provide a platform for FAO Members to showcase their local food cultures and products, reinforcing the Organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. ICCROM will be the first official member of the Network. The project is supported by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Stefano Gatti, Director-General for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation represented Italy at the event to launch the 80-1 Countdown – 365 days of action to FAO’s 80th anniversary.
This special event featured the launch of the 80-1 Anniversary Countdown exhibit and was to be attended by representatives from current and former host countries of FAO, along with a representative from the FAO members that originally proposed the establishment of an annual World Food Day – Canada, Italy, Hungary and the United States.
Today’s celebrations will be followed on October 17 by the Junior World Food Day Assembly, an educational event aimed at encouraging youth action. Special guests will include food heroes such as the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team, chef Max Mariola, sustainable fashion activist Matteo Ward, as well as Climate and Social Entrepreneur Andile Mnguni, and Gender and Human Rights Youth Activist Shreyaa Venkat. Together with international food experts, they will tell inspiring stories and engage youth through quizzes, games, live music and dance performances.
The World Food Week events in Rome join hundreds of events around the world that are calling for action in over 50 languages.
The events also form part of this week’s fourth edition of the World Food Forum (WFF) flagship event, organized around the three pillars of the WFF Global Youth Forum, the FAO Science and Innovation Forum, and the FAO Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum. This year, the WFF is also hosting the Global Family Farming Forum, the High-Level Rome Water Dialogue on WASAG (Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture) and the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. As part of this event, in an Indigenous People’s tent, chef Fatmata Binta is scheduled to present a ‘Tent Talk’ on her experience growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone and her passion for uniting people through food. Ecuadorian chef Rodrigo Pacheco is to speak on developing the largest edible forest in the world and “rethinking cuisine” for a better life for all.
Conflict zones and climate crisis
FAO works extensively to target food security and nutrition in interventions spanning both conflict, climate crisis-hit communities and other hunger hot spots as well as non-emergency situations. In places where access to foods is being disrupted, leading to malnutrition and hunger, its efforts are focused on rebuilding agricultural infrastructure to ensure food availability and accessibility for long-term food security.
Aside from such emergency interventions, key FAO programmes such as the Hand in Hand initiative, One Country One Priority Product, Blue Economy and Technical Cooperation Programmes also focus on medium to long-term food security and nutrition across a wide range of countries.
The challenges stem from a range of causes including dietary changes and market concentration driven by globalization, inflation and the climate crisis, which is increasing in intensity and will be a key focus of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP) to take place in Azerbaijan next month.
To address these various issues, FAO’s interventions include supporting school feeding programmes to tackle increased health issues; working with fishing communities to expand social protection for the most vulnerable; cash transfers to the poorest households; introducing climate smart agriculture techniques and helping governments develop legal frameworks towards ensuring food security and nutrition.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security.
#WorldFoodDay is celebrated on 16 October every year to commemorate FAO’s founding on that day in 1945.
