A community member holds a watermelon in front of the "Food Mountain" after its unveiling by Hon. Deputy Minister of MAWLR, Anna Shiweda, and Hon. Neville Andre, Governor of the Erongo region during this year's World Food Day.

On 16 October 2021, Namibians from all walks of life joined the rest of the world in commemorating the annual global observance of the World Food Day (WFD) during a colourful event that took place in the small rural settlement of Utuseb, located south of the coastal town of Walvis Bay in the Erongo region.

Hosted under the theme: “Our actions are our future. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life” this year’s WFD was aimed at raising awareness on the need for supporting the transformation of a more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food  systems.

The WFD festivities included the distribution of food parcels by a team of dignitaries. The dignitaries handed over nutritious food parcels to three pre-selected vulnerable households located with the Utuseb community.

Thereafter, the team of dignitaries alongside various invited guests and community members took part in a Hunger Alliance March within Utuseb. The march, led by the Namibian Navy band, was aimed at demonstrating the solidarity between stakeholders in the fight against hunger, poverty and food insecurity. The march also sought to encourage stakeholders such as private entities, NGOs, the media and the public at large to join hands and work towards the elimination of hunger and poverty.

The WFD event also saw participation from a variety of exhibitors, including private sector companies and local small-holder farmers and producers, who showcased their agricultural products and implements. Farmers displayed various products derived from the famous !Nara plant including items such as soap and oil.

Meanwhile, a group of youth who form up the Innovative Green Hands initiative based in Henties Bay displayed designs of their optimized portable hydroponic system suitable or growing fresh vegetables. The system is designed to fit in a small space and withstand all kinds of climatic conditions, ensuring a fresh harvest at all times and mainly aims to promote agriculture in the mostly dry landscape of the Erongo region.

During the main proceedings of the ceremony, various speakers took to the podium to address a crowd of invited guests, media and public including the Governor of the host region Erongo, Neville Andre, who reiterated his region and government’s commitment towards ensuring food and nutrition security for all Namibians.

Additionally, the Governor emphasised the need to safeguard the most vulnerable inhabitants in society who are susceptible to hunger and malnutrition and called on for a stronger collaborative approach to address the food insecurity situation in the country, highlighting access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food as a basic human right.

The FAO Representative in Namibia, Farayi Zimudzi, in her remarks stressed the importance of WFD as not only an opportunity to highlight the plight of the hungry population, but also as a platform that serves to inspire or strengthen partnerships between stakeholders to work towards achieving SDG2 on Zero Hunger, as well as the other SDGs.

She further added that given the arid landscape and climatic condition in Namibia greatly expose agri-food systems in the country to various shocks and threats such as climate risks and disasters and called on for increased action to transform and diversify Namibia’s agri-food systems to make them more resilient to such threats.

During her keynote address, the Deputy Minister of MAWLR, Anna Shiweda, called for better cooperation and coordination among all stakeholders in the food value chain to effectively address challenges related to food insecurity and malnutrition in Namibia.

Various development partners such as FAO, GIZ and WFP later made pledges and donations to support small-scale farmers in the Utuseb community. The MAWLR Deputy Minister concluded the event with the unveiling of the “Food Mountain” which contained food packages bequeathed by various donors that will benefit over 100 vulnerable households in the Erongo region.

About World Food Day

World Food Day (WFD) is celebrated annually around the world on 16 October in honor of founding the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945 as an organization to deal with global food and agricultural issues. The World Food Day was declared by FAO during its 20th session held in Rome, Italy, in November 1979. This Declaration was subsequently ratified by the UN General Assembly on the 5th December 1980, which urged governments, international, national and local organizations to observe World Food Day on the 16th October of each year.