World Food Day on 16 October will see a colorful array of events across Europe and Central Asia again this year.

Farm product fairs, television and radio broadcasts, exhibits, symposiums, press conferences, foot races, poster campaigns, concerts, even a parade and a horse race are some of the activities planned.

Events this year are organized around the theme, “Family farming – feeding the world, caring for the Earth,” and will include the launch of FAO’s annual report, The State of Food and Agriculture. The report this year focuses on innovation in family farming.

In Hungary, a convoy of food trucks will cross Budapest on the morning of 16 October, circling Heroes’ Square and coming to a halt on nearby Olof Palme Promenade. The annual spectacle is organized by the Hungarian National Food Bank Association, with FAO and other partners, as a reminder that even in developed countries food security cannot be taken for granted. A public service advertising campaign in the city’s public transit system is organized by FAO with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Turkish food industry representatives, government, NGOs, academicians and others will come together in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities for panel discussions on family farming and for World Food Day ceremonies. The following week, a parade and a horse race to be broadcast on national television are planned in Ankara.

In Tajikistan, a series of footraces are planned, along with a thematic poster exhibit, an exhibition of agricultural products, and a ceremony featuring statements by national officials.

National media in Kyrgyzstan will visit farm families in the Naryn area who are participating in a project to expand vegetable and fishery production. The project is run by FAO, UN Women and the World Food Programme. Also planned is a food products fair, and a “Race to support family farming” organized in partnership with Naryn University. In the capital city, the UN House will sport a World Food Day mega-banner.

Children aged 5 to 17 from schools across the region are participating in the annual World Food Day poster competition, with winners to be announced on 16 October.

World Food Day – which marks the establishment in 1945 of FAO – is one of the most widely observed of all United Nations commemorative days. It was held for the first time in 1981, following a resolution of the UN General Assembly and the decision of FAO’s own governing Conference. Its purpose is to raise public awareness of food and agriculture issues, including the worldwide drive to end hunger.

8 October 2014, Budapest, Hungary