Making bolder commitments to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security in Uganda
With the growing double burden of food and nutrition insecurity globally and in developing countries like Uganda, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Uganda have reaffirmed their commitment to taking the necessary measures to address food and nutrition challenges, while calling upon all key stakeholders to play active roles in the race to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.
The call was made during the national celebrations for World Food Day on 16 October 2019 at Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research Institute in Hoima district. The celebrations attracted exhibitors, including farmers, researchers, corporate companies and civil society actors with innovations and work aimed at improving agricultural production, food and nutrition.
Held under the theme: “Our actions are our future; Healthy diets for a zero hunger world”, World Food Day this year calls for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets accessible and affordable to everyone. Globally, over 820 million people go to bed hungry, a significant increase from 777 million people in 2016 which underscores the immense challenge of achieving the Zero Hunger target by 2030. According to FAO’s flagship report ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018’ 257 million people in Africa or one in five people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition. The Eastern African region is responsible for about 31.4 percent of all those who are hungry in Africa, which is about 132 million people.
In a speech read for him by Uganda’s Vice President- Hon. Edward Sekandi, the President of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, called for urgent actions to “rid the world of hunger and privation which erode the dignity and pride of human life”.
The President noted that the Government is making great efforts to foster economic growth so as to support the agriculture sector and promote food production. He revealed that the Government plans to enhance income and food security for rural households, by among others, increasing investment in quality inputs, extension services, agriculture research, water for production for crops and animals, mechanization, pest and disease control, animal husbandry and fisheries; and increasing the available capital base from which farmers and agriculture sector players can borrow.
“We shall continue to prioritize agriculture; it is our commitment to enable all households, especially the rural smallholder farmers to earn at least UGX 20million per year from agriculture and other economic enterprises”, he said, adding that, “This will help us eliminate hunger and poverty and stabilize food and nutrition security while boosting agro industrialization.”
FAO Representative in Uganda- Antonio Querido, commended the Government of Uganda for its commitment to uplifting its people out of poverty and making them more food secure. He also acknowledged the 40years of technical cooperation between FAO and the Government of Uganda, underscoring the importance of engaging many more stakeholders and partners to work towards zero hunger in Uganda.
“To make strides in realizing a hunger-free world, our actions will have to be bolder, not only in scale but also in terms of multi-sectoral collaboration, involving the agriculture, food, health, water and sanitation, education, and other relevant sectors; and in different policy domains, including social protection, development planning and economic policy”, he said.
FAO has worked with government and other development partners on a range of areas on policy and capacity development for famers to improve production and post-harvest practices. I sincerely thank the Government, through the various ministries.
This year, Uganda celebrated World Food Day, together with Members of the Parliaments of eleven countries in Eastern Africa, and Members of Parliament from two regional economic communities, East African Community and IGAD.
Querido underscored the importance of Members of Parliament at the national level for they have a critical task to help countries formulate policies and foster favourable environments for the elimination of hunger and malnutrition in Eastern Africa.
While speaking at the World Food Day commemoration activities at Bulindi ZARDI, in Hoima District, Honourable Vincent Ssempijja the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, thanked FAO for working with the Government of Uganda to achieve some of its national aspirations, including ending hunger. He noted that World Food Day was an important day to create a platform for various stakeholders to address bottlenecks and solutions to ending hunger.
“This will be done through building resilience of agricultural livelihoods to ensure sustainable food and nutrition security, wealth creation and agro industrialization”, he said.
During the celebrations, the Vice President launched the Standard Operating Procedures for school demonstration gardens that will be implemented in all schools by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Local Government together with District Local Government. The move is aimed at improving nutrition for school going children in schools by providing a guide to establishment of nutrition sensitive school demonstration gardens countrywide.
World Food Day (WFD) and FAO
FAO celebrates WFD each year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of the Organization in 1945. Events are organized in up to 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the United Nations (UN) calendar. These events promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to achieve Zero Hunger, ensuring food security and nutritious diets for all. WFD is a chance to call for greater commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, and a day to highlight FAO’s role in leading global efforts to achieve Zero Hunger since the Organization was established in 1945. WFD 2019 marks the 74th anniversary of the Organization’s founding and the 39th observance of WFD.