HAPPY WORLD FOOD DAY
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
on October 16 each year celebrates World Food Day to commemorate the day it was
founded in 1945. And according to FAO, various events from marathons and
hunger marches, to exhibitions, cultural performances, contests and concerts –
are organised in around 130 countries across the world to celebrate this day,
which makes it among the most celebrated days in the UN calendar.
Goal two of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed in 2016 strives for “Zero
Hunger” by the year 2030. Regretfully, hunger and malnutrition remain large
barriers of development in many regions, including Africa.
Hunger has several causes, and these are
always mutually inclusive. Basically, the main causes of hunger include
conflict, poverty, lack of investment in agriculture, weather and climate and
unstable markets.
In Africa and elsewhere poverty is the main
cause of hunger. Often people living in poverty are unable to afford sufficient
quantity and quality of food to enable them live healthy lives. And poverty
often is a cycle!
There
are many areas in Africa that suffers from incessant conflicts, like some parts
of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Violence and conflicts may have both
direct and indirect impacts on all levels of food system. This leads to food
security and hunger.
Environmental
challenges like drought and water shortages, deforestation, desertification,
and soil erosion may have detrimental impact on food security. According to
statistics, 2017, 23 countries experienced food crises due to climate and
weather conditions. Two-thirds of these countries were in Africa, affecting
approximately 32 million people.
At Virunga Community
Programs we have initiated different initiatives that seek to mitigate food
security in the Virunga massif. We believe that the world has enough for
everyone, and human beings should just act prudently to ensure that all of us
share that nature has to provide. The Virunga range has been a source of
conflict, particularly in the Eastern DRC as a result of human thirst for
natural resources.
As we continue to come
up with innovative programs that will address poverty and conservation
challenges in the Virunga massif, it is our hope that every one of us behaves
responsibly so that we can all together address challenges of food security and
hunger
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