WORLD HUNGER DAY-Food for Thought and Action

News from SI Representative to UN- ROME- Else Larsen from Rome ( site of Food Agriculture Organization) Else recently attended a meeting in Rome on behalf of SI. Following is an excerpt from the article she wrote that will be posted in its entirety on the SI Website www.soroptimistinternational.org . On the subject of food....we hope this little bit of information whets your appetite to learn more........

Climate Change and Bioenergy - the Focus of WORLD FOOD DAY World Food Day is observed annually on 16th October, the anniversary date of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) foundation in 1945. The theme for World Food Day this year (2008) is: ''World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.''

As SI Representative to FAO I was one of the invited guests, along with 20 other NGO Representatives to FAO and more than 100 delegates from Member Nations of FAO, at this years World Food Day ceremony held at FAO Headquarters in Rome. Apart from attending the official ceremony on 16th October, where the keynote speech was delivered by the First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. I also participated in a number of exciting seminars on topics such as: ''Climate Change and its Health Impacts on Food, Water Safety and Nutrition'' and Bioenergy, Agriculture and Rural Development'' organized by FAO in conjunction with the Conference of the Committee of World Food Security At the end of the week, on Sunday 19th October a ''Run for Food Race'' was arranged, along with a cultural show and food fair. at the Stadium next to the ruins of Terme di Caracalla in Rome.

This event, was a real public event and drew huge crowds of Romans and FAO staff with their families and friends, who all ran for a good course, while also enjoying a beautiful autumn Sunday at the historical setting at the Stadium of Terme di Caracalla in Rome. The ''Run for for Food Race'' was a fun way to spend an autumn Sunday in Rome, while also reflecting on the bigger issues of hunger and poverty in the world, climate change; bioenergy and many other topics that had been discussed in depth during the week at FAO Headquarters.

Food for Thought – What can we learn?

· The achievement of MDG 1 – reducing by half the number of hungry people in the world is becoming extremely difficult. To day the global number of undernourished and hungry people is estimated at 923 million against 842 million in 1990-92. (FAO)
· Food Prices in the foreseeable future are likely to remain above the levels of the previous 10 years. This is due mainly to:
(1) unpredictable weather patterns; land and water constraints; high fertilizer prices and transportations costs;
(2) continued high demand for first generation biofuels (sugar, maize, cassava, oilseeds and palm oil), partly driven by high oil prices and government policies and partly by slow development of second generation biofuels and technologies – and
(3) economic growth in large emerging economies (China and India) which will raise the purchasing power and change the dietary habits (more demand for meat and dairy products) of millions of people.
· Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the nutritional effects of high food prices and particularly female-headed households in rural and urban poor households in sub-Saharan Africa, where numbers of hungry people have increased the most since 1990-92.

Else ended her article with several great suggestions....here is one of them!
· Participate in the annual UN World Food Programme/FAO organized “End Hunger-Walk the World” event, which raises awareness of child hunger in the world and raises funds for school meals for children from poor households in developing countries. Next “End Hunger-Walk the World” date is Sunday 7th June 2009 (http://www.wfp.org/)