Miller Magazine Issue: 155 November 2022

52 MILLER / NOVEMBER 2022 NEWS Pope Francis, United Nations Secretary-General and Italy’s President join other leaders in urging re- newed efforts to tackle hunger and malnutrition. World Food Day 2022 celebrations were held in Rome under the rallying cry “leave no one behind,” amid a deteriorating glob- al food security crisis and all-time high numbers of people at risk of experiencing serious levels of hunger in Asia and Africa. The annual event commemorates the founding in 1945 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). A global ceremony at FAO’s headquarters in Rome featured messages from, among others, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis and Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Hundreds of related initiatives were also being held in about 150 countries around the world, with a call to action in more than 50 languages featuring on digital billboards and through creative branding initiatives, including at Kigali International Airport, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue, the Niagara Falls and London’s Piccadilly Circus. This year’s edition takes place at a time when global food se- curity is facing threats from multiple directions, with soaring food, energy and fertilizer prices adding to traditional drivers such as the climate crisis and long-standing conflicts. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have knock-on effect, high- lighting how interconnected our economies and lives are. “In the face of a looming global food crisis, we need to harness the power of solidarity and collective momentum to build a better future where everyone has regular access to enough nutritious food,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said in his address to the ceremony in Rome. On top of the 970 000 people at risk of famine in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the number of peo- ple facing hunger worldwide is on the rise (as much as 828 mil- lion in 2021, according to FAO’s latest The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report) and 3.1 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet. As is so often the case, it is the most vulnerable who are hit the hardest: Women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and rural farmers. They are often the ones who struggle the most to gain access to training, finance, innovation and technologies. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres noted that World Food Day 2022 was taking place “at a challenging moment for global food security” and urged stakeholders to act together in order to move “from despair to hope and action.” Pope Francis, in a message read on his behalf, urged the audience not to lose sight of the fact that people “are not just numbers, data or an endless stream of statistics.” Italian Pres- ident Sergio Mattarella said that without equitable access to food, millions of people on our planet, especially those living in the poorest countries, may not be granted a healthy life, quality education, and the opportunity for social and economic growth. “This year, more than ever, World Food Day should be a call to ramp up action to help small-scale farmers in rural areas, who supply food to their communities and countries – through crisis after crisis – despite inequality, vulnerability, and poverty,” said Alvaro Lario, President of the UN’s International Fund for Agricul- tural Development (IFAD). “My gravest concern is what’s coming next: a food availability crisis as the fallout from conflict and cli- mate change threatens to sabotage global food production in the months ahead. The world must open its eyes to this unprec- edented global food crisis and act now to stop it spinning out of control,” said World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley. Call to leave no one behind comes at critical juncture for global food security