FAO: 75 years of fighting hunger
October 26, 2020 at 12:19 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
North America is currently represented in the media with a wide variety of topics, this is especially true for the USA. Unfortunately, the circumstances often have negative connotations, be it the racism debate, the presidential election with the various escapades of both participants or the controversial "Phase One" deal with China. With all this turmoil, however, one positive message should not be lost: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) celebrates its 75th birthday this month and both the USA and Canada have played a crucial role in the fight against hunger over the past decades.
Agricultural productivity against poverty
The organization was officially founded on 16 October 1945 in Quebec, Canada. In keeping with this, a virtual event for the anniversary took place last week, in which all important representatives took part. The Director-General of FAO, Dr. Qu Dongyu, underlined the important role Canada and the United States have played in FAO's mission over the past 75 years. He said that Canada has worked with FAO "towards finding solutions to the most pressing issues of our time and finding new ways of delivering support to those in need", while the U.S., FAO's largest contributor, "is a key partner, collaborating across all our areas of work, from global food trade and safety, to disaster assistance and resilience building to advancing science and innovation for taking global agriculture forward." US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue added:"Our shared purpose from the FAO constitution in 1945 is still enduring. "Thanks to the progress made through FAO and technology, we are now more connected as a global community than ever before. Globally everybody is more prosperous than at FAO's founding", he said, adding that improvements in agricultural productivity had made a decisive contribution to the dramatic reduction of global poverty.
Digital agriculture gains in importance
A major problem in the fight against malnutrition is of course the coronavirus pandemic. As the UNO has already stated, it will problably cause a drastic increase in the number of starving people worldwide. According to Qu, this makes it clear that the FAO's mission is far from complete. "Now, more than ever before, is the time for all of us to come together and ensure deliverance from hunger and malnutrition, especially for marginalized and vulnerable populations." At the beginning of the plenary session, the Director-General underlined his efforts to ensure that FAO's work is measured against five objectives: "concrete, tangible, participatory, transparent and cohesive."". He invited Canada and the United States to support the FAO's efforts to intensify a digital revolution in global agriculture by supporting the International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture. "Digital agriculture is the future and we have to strive hard to make it a reality for every family farmer around the globe."
