Celebrated on the 16th of October, World  Food  Day  2020 and FAO’s 75th Anniversary  is  being  marked  during  a very  exceptional  time as  many  countries  are  dealing  with  the  widespread  effects  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic.

With the theme “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”, World Food Day 2020 will call for more resilient and robust agri-food systems, and for global solidarity - both vital for our recovery from this crisis, and for building back better.

In his statement, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said: “What we now need is smart, systemic action to get the food to those who need it and improve it for those who have it. Action to prevent crops from rotting in the field, for lack of efficient supply chains. Action to enhance the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence, so as to predict threats to harvest, automatically trigger crop insurance and cut climate risk. Action to rescue biodiversity from relentless erosion. Action to turn cities into the farms of tomorrow. Action by governments to implement policies that make healthy diets more accessible. Action by agencies like FAO to turn to think-tanks and action-tanks rolled into one, linking up with the research community and the private sector to unleash the power of innovation.”

The Day also provides an opportunity to thank Food Heroes – farmers and workers throughout the food supply chain - who, no matter the circumstances, continue to provide food to their communities and beyond.  

World Food Day also comes as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) turns 75. FAO was founded on 16 October 1945 – a few days before the United Nations itself - to further agricultural knowledge and nutritional wellbeing. 

“At 75, FAO is far from thinking of riding off into the sunset. We are not day-dreaming either. COVID-19 has made it abundantly clear that our mission is as relevant as when our founders created FAO in 1945. Cataclysms spur renewal. The pandemic has reminded everyone that food security and nutritious diets matter to all. This is why FAO is today embarking on the next chapter in its story with a renewed sense of purpose” added FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.

Lebanon and FAO, 43 years of partnership

Over the past 43 years, FAO’s assistance to Lebanon has focused on the promotion of sustainable development of the agriculture sector, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant ministries. More recently, FAO has been supporting the coordination and planning mechanism for humanitarian and stabilization assistance to Lebanon in the context of the Syria crisis.

FAO’s support focuses on agricultural and rural development, resilience and sustainable natural resource management. Activities include support to agricultural production systems in order to overcome production and marketing constraints, boosting investment in agriculture, assisting small-scale family farmers in their efforts to enhance productivity, reduce production costs, increase quality, overcome post-harvest barriers, and improve food safety.

Strengthening the capacities of the agricultural cooperatives, in particular women cooperatives, and producers’ associations is another key area of our work.

FAO also supports the application of climate-smart agricultural technologies, including efficient irrigation

techniques and good agricultural practices; enhancing the capacity of regional water establishments to better plan and manage water resources for irrigation; and supporting sustainable forest management and long-term reforestation efforts, particularly the Government’s “40 Million Trees Program’’. FAO is also supporting small fishermen to enhance the sustainability of their practices and to support their livelihoods.

In addition, FAO works on promoting investments in agricultural infrastructure and agri-food value chains with a view to generate employment and other livelihood opportunities, particularly in main agricultural regions where majority of Syrian refugees’ host communities are located.