Every year, FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific celebrates the importance of World Food Day. This year, given the COVID-19 global pandemic and the disruptions it has caused to livelihoods and food security, our celebrations are muted, yet within this context, today’s World Food Day itself has become more important than ever.

While the spread of the coronavirus has seriously disrupted food security and livelihoods for millions of people in this region, we also find ourselves off-track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals to end malnutrition and poverty.