World Food Day Celebrations focused on migration
Change the future of migration. Investing in food security and rural development was the theme that led to World Food Day celebrations around the world. In Mozambique, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other United Nations agencies as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) joined together to celebrate the date that also marks the anniversary of FAO.
During a joint press conference alluding to the date, the FAO Representative in Mozambique pointed out that unfortunately in 2016 there was an increase of about 38 million people suffering from hunger compared to 2015 (777 million), a large increase due to conflicts, droughts and floods around the world, which makes the majority of the poor and many rural young people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, migrate in the absence of productive opportunities.
The world is now facing the largest movement of refugees and migrants, and climate change is one of the root causes of the large number of people forced to migrate. Between 2008 and 2015 alone, an average of 26.4 million people travelled annually due to weather disasters or related with extreme weather events.
According to IOM Representative Katharina Schnoering, "the challenges remain large and will require closer responses from governments, the United Nations system, civil society, the private sector, academia and all other relevant actors. States will have the opportunity to discuss and negotiate partnerships and establish commitments for the development of the Global Compact for Safe, Ordained and Regular Migration".
Schnoering said also that she "hopes that this Pact will help pave the way for strengthening global governance in migration and specifically for more concrete strategies and actions on how to move towards the achievement of ambitious SDG´s commitments to food security and migration ".
Representing the WFP, Karin Manente said that "by investing in rural areas, empowering small farmers, especially women, is a direct way to improve food security and tackle one of the main causes of conflict and migration."
Mozambique currently hosts more than 20,000 refugees (9,000 of them in the Maratane Refugee Camp, where UN agencies (WFP, UNHCR, UNHABITAT and FAO) work in collaboration with the Government to better accommodate them and strengthen livelihoods.
In a joint effort, these agencies participated in the World Food Day celebrations in the Maratane refugee camp through the promotion of lectures on healthy eating, sanitation measures, culinary demonstrations and a health fair.
The FAO programme in Maratane supports refugees through subsidies so that they can develop their self-sufficiency through agriculture and livestock.