Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia celebrated World Food Day with Georgian government officials, ambassadors, international organizations, non-governmental and private sectors and academia. This year, World Food Day aimed to remind the international community of its fundamental political commitment to humanity – the eradication of all forms of malnutrition – and raise awareness that achieving a Zero Hunger world by 2030 (so in 12 years-time) is still possible

Joining 150 countries celebrating the World Food Day worldwide, the event promoted awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and safety for all. According to the latest estimates, the number of undernourished people in the world increased in 2017, for the third consecutive year. Last year, 821 million people suffered from hunger (11 percent of the world population - one in nine people on the planet).

"World Food Day" is one of the most important events in the UN calendar. This year it was celebrated in more than 150 countries of the world, including Georgia. The event is hosted annually by the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and it summarizes important results of joint projects over past one year. This year a special emphasis has been made on the results of agriculture and rural development programmes, animal identification and registration systems, hunting and wildlife management projects.

The event was opened by the First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Nodar Kereselidze and FAO Assistant Representative in Georgia, Mamuka Meskhi.

"With the support of EU, Swiss Confederation and Austria and close cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, today FAO is implementing unprecedented large-scale programmes in Georgia. These programs are focused on sustainable agriculture and rural development, employment and income growth of rural population - particularly young people and strengthening of farmers' competitiveness. FAO gives them the knowledge and experience of developing agricultural practices that do not damage the environment and provide healthy and harmless food”, Mamuka Meskhi said.

Presentation of an album - "Hunting and Forest Management Customs in Ancient Georgia" was held in the scope of the event. The oldest and unique Georgian manuscripts, documents and illustrations included in this album were presented by Korneli Kekelidze National Center of Manuscripts of Georgia as an exhibition specially for this day.

Director of the Center Zaza Abashidze presented the album:

"More than 10 000 manuscripts and 40,000 historical documents are kept in the National Center of Manuscripts of Korneli Kekelidze. This heritage holds the most important information about the past of the country, in almost all fields. We have naturally applied to these sources to restore forest use and hunting history. This album is the first attempt to study the manuscript heritage preserved in forest and hunting directions, " Abashidze said.

The historical documents presented in the album are diverse, the most ancient dated with XIV century and the latest - XIX century. Among the issuers of documents are kings (King Teimuraz, Erekle II), Catholics and ordinary feudals. The most interesting information in the documents is about forest use in Georgia, resources obtained from forests, forest ownership or expropriation, texts about preparation for royal hunting and the ritual of being invited for hunting by kings are also interesting.

World Food Day coincides with the birthday of FAO. The organization was founded 73 years ago and is nowadays represented in 194 countries of the world, including Georgia.

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