FAO roundtable at MGIMO-University to celebrate World Food Day

Eradicating hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and ensuring sustainable agricultural systems by 2030 (the ‘deadline’ for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), and Russia's role in achieving these goals, were the focus of the round table held at MGIMO University on the occasion of the World Food Day (WFD).

“Zero hunger” is Goal 2 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015 to address global challenges related to poverty, hunger and malnutrition, climate change, inclusive growth, and sustainable natural resource management.

FAO’s Liaison Office with the Russian Federation organized the event in cooperation with the FAO Information Center at MGIMO University. Igor Shcherbak, Chief Consultant for the Information Center, moderated the round table held under the WFD 2018 slogan “Our Actions are our Future.”

The President of MGIMO University, Anatoly Torkunov; the Officer-in-Charge of FAO’s Liaison Office, Aghasi Harutyunyan; the Director of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Pyotr Ilyichev; the Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Maxim Markovic; the Director for  Agrarian Policy Issues of the Higher School of Economics, Eugenia Serova; the Vice-President of  the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irina Donnik; the Director of the UN Information Center in Russia, Vladimir Kuznetsov; and other prominent experts were among the speakers at the event.

The special video message from FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva opened the meeting, spelling out the concern over the increasing number of hungry people and people suffering from micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. The Director-General called on the international community to take urgent measures to remedy the situation.

Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Center, read out the statement issued by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “Each of us should contribute to creating a world without hunger. This is a collective task, and the main role is assigned to FAO and the UN as a whole,” the document noted.

Aghasi Harutyunyan, Officer-in-Charge for FAO’s Moscow office, made a presentation on “FAO projects and partnerships to achieve Zero Hunger”. He cited alarming statistics: in 2017, 821 million people in the world suffered from hunger, 1.5 billion people – from micronutrient deficiencies, and more than 672 million people – from obesity. More people are dying from hunger than from malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis combined. At the same time, annual global economic losses from obesity amount to about 2 trillion US dollars.

“We must take into account that the concept of Zero Hunger is not limited to the fight against chronic malnutrition. It is aimed at providing people with the necessary nutrients for a healthy lifestyle. Zero hunger implies the elimination of all forms of malnutrition,” Harutyunyan said. In conclusion, Harutyunyan thanked Russia for its active and generous assistance, and expressed hope for Russia’s continued cooperation with FAO.

Maxim Markovich, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, noted that FAO cooperation with Russia is steadily expanding and pointed out that Russia is among the top twenty contributing countries of the Organization. He elaborated on some of the projects financed by the Russian Federation. The projects cover such issues as combatting the spread of antimicrobial resistance in a number of CIS countries; assistance to Central Asian nations in the areas of food security, nutrition and agriculture; promotion of Global Soil Partnership; and support to countries affected by armed conflicts, in particular, Syria.

Eugenia Serova, Director for Agrarian Policy Issues at HSE, noted that the problem of hunger was solved in Russia long ago. “For us, SDG 12 is important, namely, responsible and rational consumption of natural resources. We should not think about ourselves, but about our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The key point is the issue of food loss and waste reduction. Often, authorities focus on solving the issue of waste disposal rather than thinking of how to reduce waste,” she said.

Lyudmila Orlova, President of the National Movement for Conservation Agriculture, proposed to solve the problem of malnutrition relying on conservation agriculture, proper oversight, knowledge sharing, and creation of experimental research platforms. These measures would improve productivity, and quality of food products, as well as reduce losses, she underlined. “The state and the society should stimulate agricultural producers in order to improve the quality of products through the introduction of conservation agriculture technologies that ensure high productivity,” she said.

The round table participants noted with appreciation the fruitfulness of the discussions and expressed a common view that the problem of hunger and malnutrition may only be solved by joint efforts. They pointed out that the celebration of World Food Day was a good occasion to remind the world community of its commitments in this area.

The World Food Day is celebrated annually on 16 October, to commemorate the founding of FAO.