International Day of Potato 2024 - Brussels Celebration

The FAO Liaison Office in Brussels is delighted to celebrate the first International Day of Potato on Monday, 27 May 2024, in Brussels, at the Residence Palace. The event, which is co-organized with the Embassy of Peru in Belgium, will feature high-level interventions from FAO, Belgium, and Peru, and will close with the screening of the documentary "Opening the Earth: The Potato King", a stunning celebration of the indigenous cultures and the Andes, and an occasion to recognize the importance of potatoes in global food security and sustainable agriculture. 
 
Potatoes, originating from the Andean region of South America, have become a global staple, providing essential nutrients and calories to millions. Their adaptability to diverse climates and versatility in culinary dishes make them a crucial component of diets worldwide. The International Day of Potato will serve henceforth as an annual reminder of the potato's significant contribution to global nutrition.  
 
The Brussels celebration will highlight the importance of sustainable approaches to potato cultivation, especially in fostering resilience in the face of environmental challenges, as well as the deep cultural significance of potato in many regions of the world. The event will leverage both the Peruvian and Belgian historical and cultural connection to potatoes.   
 
The FAO International Day of Potato celebration in Brussels, which will gather EU institutions, UN Member States and policymakers, will serve as a platform for global collaboration and exchange on the role of potatoes in achieving better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.  
 
 Speakers from FAO, the Embassy of Peru, the Belgian Government, and potato associations will intervene and share their views. 

 Full agenda and speakers are upcoming. 

Date:  27 May 2024 
 
Address:  Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels 
 
Time:  14.00 - 16.30 CEST 
 
Register here 
 
 
More about the International Day of Potato 
 
As the third most consumed food crop globally, potatoes contribute to the food security and nutrition, as well as livelihoods and employment, of many people in rural and urban areas around the world. 
 
Celebrated on 30 May, the International Day of Potato 2024 is an opportunity to build on the International Year of the Potato, which was observed in 2008. The observance will also be used to underscore the importance of the crop in combating hunger and poverty, and addressing environmental threats to agrifood systems. The roles of small-scale family farmers, a significant proportion of whom are women, in safeguarding the wide spectrum of the crop’s diversity, will also be recognized, while the cultural and culinary dimensions of the crop’s cultivation and consumption will be celebrated. 
 
Please visit the official website of the International Day of Potato: https://www.fao.org/international-potato-day/en