Mozambique celebrates World Food Day 2014
The children's engagement was right there, in front of everyone. Concentrated on the song lyrics, eyes wide open, straight backs. Their clothes, one could see, were kept for big events. This year, the village of 3 de Fevereiro, located in the District of Manhiça, Province of Maputo, has been chosen for the official celebration of World Food Day in Mozambique. And so, from now on, Lhanimane Primary School will take responsibility for the trees that have been planted on the occasion by the students together with their guests: among others, the Permanent Secretary of the Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG), Daniel Clemente, the Executive Secretary of the Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SETSAN), Marcela Libombo, as well as the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Castro Camarada, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Custódio Mucavel, and the World Food Programme (WFP), Abdoulaye Baldé.
"Every year, we celebrate this day to raise awareness of something so basic and, at the same time, so central in our lives: food", Castro Camarada, FAO Representative in Mozambique, later said in his speech. World Food Day, celebrated on 16 October, offers an opportunity for reflection on the various ways of struggling against hunger and guaranteeing food security in the world. "In Mozambique", Camarada added, "we mark the day to recall the need to double our efforts towards eradication of hunger and malnutrition, since there are still many people without access to adequate food".
The ideal meal has seven colours like the rainbow
In the year designated by the United Nations "International Year of Family Farming", the World Food Day theme – "Family farming: feeding the world, caring for the earth" – has been chosen to focus world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, particularly in rural areas.
Family farmers contribute 80 percent of the food supply worldwide (there are 3.2 million smallholder farmers in Mozambique). Speaking before representatives from the government and the United Nations, traditional authorities and the villagers from 3 de Fevereiro, SETSAN Executive Secretary, Marcela Libombo, answered the question she had asked her audience "why do we eat?" in the simplest way: "to live we eat".
"If we want to live healthily," she continued, "we shall have on our plates at least four to five colours" – from the white of the rice to the purple of an egg plant, the brown of a beef and the red of tomatoes. "Ideally, your plate shall exhibit seven colours like the rainbow". Ironically, many of the family farmers, celebrated in the International Year of Family Farming, still belong to the group of those who suffer from food insecurity and in many cases, their plates do not exhibit seven colours.
FAO has celebrated World Food Day each year since 1981 in more than 150 countries, including Mozambique. This is the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945. This year, in particular, the aim is to increase awareness of the challenges faced by subsistence and family farmers.