World Food Day Ceremony and Presentation of the FAO Achievement Award Opening Statement

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Good morning from Rome!

Happy World Food Day! And Happy 79th Birthday to FAO and to you all!

This year’s World Food Day theme “Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future” is a timely reminder that all people have the right to adequate foods.

With 730 million people facing hunger, it is clear there is still much work to be done, and FAO’s mandate to ensure food security for all is as valid as ever.

Currently, more than 2.8 billion people in the world cannot afford healthy diets.

Malnutrition in its various forms exists in all countries and socio-economic classes.

But, even in high-income economies, people are choosing convenient, unhealthy foods.

These problems relate to agrifood systems, since the nutritious, diverse foods needed for healthy diets are insufficiently available or affordable.

Food security should be solved based on food availability, food accessibility and food affordability.

This World Food Day I am calling on all of us to renew our commitment to building more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems that can nourish the world.

Agrifood systems that support smallholder farmers, family farmers and small businesses across the value chain who, in many countries, are fundamental to making nutritious, diverse foods available to all, and to preserving traditional food cultures.

There is no time to lose, we must take immediate action to ensure the integrated Four Betters!

For Better Production and Better Nutrition: governments need to enable healthy diets for everyone, everywhere, by incentivizing the production and sale of more nutritious foods, and promoting their consumption in a healthy way

For a Better Environment: we need to produce more with less. More quantity, with more diverse foods, with less agricultural inputs and less negative impact on the environment.

We need to produce enough diverse foods, while preserving biodiversity and protecting the planet.

And for a Better Life we need science and innovation - including IT, AI, Biotechnology and Digital Agriculture – as they are key for the transformation of agrifood systems to ensure a Better Life for all, leaving no one behind.

To support governments, the private sector needs to shift away from unhealthy foods and make a greater diversity of safe, nutritious food available, affordable and appealing. They need to be our allies in addressing this global challenge. Governments cannot do it alone.

Dear Friends,

Let us remember that there cannot be food security without peace. Peace is a pre-requisite for food security and the right to food is a basic human right.

We cannot build peaceful communities without addressing hunger and malnutrition.

As I always say, the world is presenting us with many challenges at the moment, but these challenges also present us with many opportunities to change.

Change is the only way to solve problems. Big change leads to big development; small change leads to small development; and no change leads to no development. No development accumulates problems. The solution is development!

And while the road ahead may seem daunting, there are also many success stories along the path which can inspire and motivate us to continue our journey.

Today, I am delighted to celebrate the FAO Achievement Award.

This Award serves not only as a symbol of excellence, but also as an encouragement and a vision - both to those who receive it and for the wider global community.

Since I came in 2019, we started to reorganize the awards to be more systematic in recognizing achievements and showing our appreciation in support.

By celebrating innovative solutions and breakthrough achievements, the FAO Achievement Award motivates us all to take bold action towards a better, more sustainable future.

Today, I have the honour to present this prestigious Award to an extraordinary institute: The Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. I left the Academy more than 20 years ago, and I am delighted to see the new wave of innovative scientists that are contributing to the world from the remarkable Academy.

Their groundbreaking work in combating the Fall Armyworm has had a profound impact, not only in China, but also globally.

By leading the development of a sustainable pest management system to combat Fall Armyworm, the Institute has made significant progress in protecting crops and securing food supplies.

The International Framework for Fall Armyworm Control they established has been instrumental in improving food security and reducing crop losses worldwide.

This recognition is not just a celebration of what has been accomplished, but a call to action for what remains to be done, more and better.

The efforts of the Institute exemplify the kind of leadership we need to effectively, efficiently and coherently support Members to achieve the SDGs – especially SDG2 (Zero Hunger)

Congratulations to the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science – I wish you continued success in your innovative work and for cooperating more and closer with international partners, and that it may continue to inspire us to take action for people, planet, and prosperity.

Dear Friends,

The younger generation has a vital role to play.

A food secure future without malnutrition is their human right.

Tomorrow, I look forward to continuing this conversation with students at the Junior World Food Day School Assembly event. Three years ago, we started the School Assembly in this very Plenary Hall and you could feel the energy and passion the young people brought to the house, and we are happy to continue this tradition.

Today also marks the start of our preparations leading up to FAO’s 80th Anniversary in October 2025. It will be a good time to think back to our original aspiration after the end of World War II, thinking of how many millions of lives were lost, and with 90 percent of the global population suffering starvation during that dark time.

And we should take stock of what we have accomplished with the hard work of the food producers of the world, and with investments, innovation and enabling policies. Now, that figure has been reduced to 10 percent - 1 out of 11 people worldwide.

This is an historic achievement after 80 years, but we cannot stop now. We need to continue doing more and better for the remaining 10 percent – we cannot leave anyone behind.

For this reason, we will start the 80 -1 countdown to remind us every day for the next 365 days of our original aspiration as we prepare for FAO’s 80th anniversary on 16 October 2025.

I am so pleased that His Excellency the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, confirmed his support for this initiative at an historic Audience with FAO on 8 October at the Quirinale Palace. The support of our host country, at the highest level, is fundamental.

FAO’s 80th anniversary is a milestone that will offer an opportunity to reaffirm FAO’s unique role as the leading global inter-governments specialized agency with the mandate to support Members in eradicating hunger and poverty.

To mark this commemoration and for our collective legacy, we will establish the FAO Food and Agriculture Museum & Network.

I am pleased that we will shortly sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Center for the Study of the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ICCROM) to mark the beginning of a meaningful collaboration for the Museum and Network.

FAO and ICCROM share a common commitment to preserving and advancing our global heritage of cultures, foods and traditions.

The Museum will be an interactive, digital and informative space open to students, schools, families, and individuals – both for those living in Rome, as well as those coming to visit the Eternal City from all corners of the world, both in person and, more importantly, online. 

The Museum’s digital environment will foster knowledge-sharing and celebrate the richness of global culinary traditions, while emphasizing advancements in science and agricultural production and highlighting the role of innovation in shaping our future.

Through the Digital FAO, all Members are united and can share with their products, foods, technology, culture and traditional communities.

It will provide a network among global agrifood systems - and the world’s food technologies and cultures embedded in our rich histories and grounded in our traditional and indigenous heritage - with the latest scientific innovations and technology to continue ensuring the Four Betters going forward.

Dear Friends,

This week, around the world, hundreds of events are taking place to mark World Food Day 2024 and call for action in over 50 languages.

Let us answer the call this World Food Day for the Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future.

Let’s renew our commitment to building efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems that guarantee the right to good foods for all, for today and for tomorrow.

Together, we can get back on track to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by transforming agrifood systems under the overarching Four Betters.

Thank you and Happy World Food Day and Happy Birthday to FAO!