H.E. Henry Van Thio, Vice President at the FAO booth.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) marks the observance of 37th World Food Day by celebrating series of events in Nay Pyi Taw organized in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI).

The celebrations have started with the memorial tree plantation ceremony for the 40^th anniversary of the establishment of the FAO Representation in Myanmar. To highlight the 40 years of collaboration between FAO and the Government of Myanmar, H. E. Dr. Aung Thu, Union Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI), H.E. U Ohn Win, Union Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC), U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Minister for MoALI and Ms Xiaojie Fan, FAO Representative in Myanmar, have jointly planted a mahogany tree.

The tree plantation ceremony was followed by the official celebration of World Food Day 2017, which was opened by H.E. U Henry Van Thio, Vice President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. 

H. E. Dr. Aung Thu, Minister of MoALI gave the opening remarks and Ms. Xiaojie Fan, FAO Representative in Myanmar delivered the message of FAO Director General, Mr José Graziano da Silva related to this year “Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development.”

“We support countries to invest in livelihoods and build more resilient rural communities. This way, rural people can have the option to remain on their land, or to leave if they want to.” mentioned in the message of FAO Director General. “FAO will work to ensure that food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development are recognized as a major part of the solution to the global migration challenge.”

FAO has considerable experience in working on migration. To highlight the importance and interlinkages between migration, food security and rural development, FAO and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) has released a joint statement. Mr Akio Nakoyama, Chief of IOM Mission in Myanmar also attended the WFD celebration.

FAO work on migration mainly focuses on addressing structural drivers of large movements in the development and emergency contexts. In development settings this includes interventions directed at ensuring more productive agriculture sector, climate change adaptation, poverty reduction, enhancement of decent rural employment and social protection, and sustainable management of natural resources among others. Meanwhile, emergency interventions which aim to foster resilience of vulnerable agriculture-based communities, mitigate displacement, laying the ground for long-term recovery after shocks, and pave the way for durable solutions.

The event was attended by high level representatives of the Government, UN partners, donors, NGOs, INGOs, civil society organizations, academic institutions, media and others.

The morning celebration carried on into a Panel Discussion in the afternoon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of FAO Myanmar partnership with the Government. FAO Myanmar organized such interactive discussion, providing a truly national perspective on the importance of agriculture and rural development to address the migration challenges in the country. The panelist was composed of Ms Fan, FAO Representative, Dr. Tin Htut, Permanent Secretary of MoALI, Mr Akio Nakoyama, IOM Chief of Mission in Myanmar, Dr. Myo Kywe, Rector of Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) and U San Thein, national expert involved in the development of the Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS). Panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Ohnmar Khaing, Country Programme of ACIAR.