Hunger and poverty are the twin problems that are prevailing in the world today. In most of the Asian countries and Africa nearly one third of the children are affected by malnutrition and hunger. It is high time that food is made a right to every child and it must be ensured that every child gets the fair share of food that he or she deserves.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has marked October 16th as World Food Day. It was first observed in 1981. The main objectives of World Food Day are to increase awareness and understanding and to take action on hunger issues, conduct educational and charitable programs. World Food Day is observed in over 150 countries and is supported by 450 national sponsoring organizations.
The UNICEF on this world food day calls on the international community to recognize access to food as a basic right for every child. To have a healthy start in life, good nutrition for both mother and children are important. This will ensure a healthy learning and well-being.
It is disheartening to know that nearly 10.6 million children die before the age of five every year, where half of them are due to causes related to lack of food. So the World Food Day focuses on remembering about them and takes necessary steps to eradicate it in a phased manner.
UNICEF along with the governments of other countries around the world is determined to bring the number of people affected by lack of food down to half by the year 2015. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is of the opinion that though financial crisis is a serious problem, lack of food and mal-nutrition is a question of hunger and a battle between life and death. Therefore it needs urgent attention and focus.
The financial problem has further fuelled the lack of food due to sky rocketing prices of basic grains. Therefore the poorest people in the world throughout are finding it much harder to get the necessary food. Statistics reveal that one European farm disappears every minute each day, 90-95 per cent of the crop varieties in the world disappeared due to industrial agriculture and nearly 840 million people go to bed hungry each night.
World Food Day needs more attention and throws more light on the burning issues of hunger and poverty.
Author: Varadachari (Chennai)
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