Globally, more than 75 percent of the extremely poor and chronically undernourished people in developing countries live in rural areas, where agriculture, fisheries, and forestry are the primary source of their livelihoods.

However, most family farmers, fishers, and rural laborers face a variety of challenges - such as limited access to productive means and essential services, while also facing threats to their livelihoods, because of their exposure to uncertain climatic conditions, limited access to natural resources, as well as socio-economic challenges. These limitations make it hard for them to depend on agriculture or fisheries alone, as a pathway out of poverty.

In Indonesia, rural people make up about half of the population, and also here, most of the country's extremely poor and food insecure live in rural areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) highlights the importance of social protection for the rural poor, as being fundamental to national economic growth, equity, and prosperity. Unfortunately, many of the rural poor lack protection against basic risks, such as crop failure or other hazards that result in loss of income, as well as chronic food insecurity and malnutrition.

This year's World Food Day theme "Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty" is a reminder to all people in the world to pay greater attention the needs of the rural poor and to provide them with some guaranteed access to goods and services that can help change their fate.

"Social protection is about a blend of policies, programs and interventions aimed at protecting poor and food insecure people, or those who may be vulnerable to falling into poverty and food insecurity", said Mark Smulders, FAO Representative in Indonesia.

Annual Event
As in previous years, FAO is calling on the children of the world to draw attention to the plight of the poor and food insecure. In Indonesia, schools from around the country have been invited to participate, while about 100 children aged 5-17 years old, from kindergarten to senior high school, gathered today in the botanical gardens of Kebun Raya Bogor to express their empathy with the rural poor through art. The students were chosen from 40 schools in the Bogor area, West Java.

The drawings will be sent to FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, to join a global poster competition. The winner of each age group will see their posters showcased in the multimedia UN Zero Hunger Itinerary at Expo Milano, where World Food Day will be celebrated this year with the participation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. In addition, since 2015 also marks the 70th Anniversary of FAO, the award winners of the World Food Day Poster Contest will receive a commemorative medal from FAO.

The World Food Day Poster Contest is one of the oldest FAO outreach projects involving students from around the globe. Since its launch in 1981, the WFD poster contest has inspired thousands of children to put their creativity and talent to work and reflect upon ways to fight poverty and hunger in their countries.