Hanoi, Viet Nam.  At Viet Nam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Viet Nam co-organised a ceremony to celebrate the 40th World Food Day (WFD) and the 75th Anniversary of the FAO.

The theme of this year’s World Food Day is “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”, which aims to call for the whole world’s solidarity to join hands in building our future with three key messages: (1) Response, recovery and disease control (including social protection targeting vulnerable groups under impacts of the economic recession); (2) Transformation of the food systems by innovations; and (3) Behaviour change towards healthier and more nutritious diets.

The Ceremony in Hanoi was attended by Mr. Le Quoc Doanh – Vice Minister of MARD, Madam Rana Flowers – FAO Representative a.i. in Viet Nam, together with leaders and representatives of several Government agencies, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, development partners, as well as researchers, lecturers and students of Viet Nam National University of Agriculture.

Speaking at the Ceremony, Mr. Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of MARD, said: “In 2020, despite the natural disasters and disease outbreaks, Vietnam’s agricultural production has maintained a relatively stable growth. The agro-forestry-fisheries sector has continued to demonstrate its role as the supporting foundation for the whole economy in times of difficulties by ensuring sufficient supplies of food and critical commodities for domestic consumption and exports”.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most significant solutions to address the impacts of the outbreaks is to ensure continuous access to safe and nutritious food and food products, especially for the poor and the vulnerable populations, those who are experiencing difficulties caused by the disease outbreaks and the economic recession. According to the estimates, COVID-19 may push an additional 83 to 132 million people into hunger, and 6.7 million more children could suffer from wasting – and therefore become dangerously undernourished – in 2020. 

According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 released by the FAO, the poverty situation has been on a significant rise since 2014, after one decade of declining trend. This situation reflects clearly the need for enhancing the resilience and adaptability of the food systems and people’s livelihoods. Nearly one-third of the world’s population regularly suffer from food and nutrition shortages.

In her speech at the Ceremony, Madam Rana Flowers, FAO Representative a.i. in Viet Nam, informed that: “If we don’t transform our food systems, the situation of malnutrition may increase significantly in the future. This increase would become more complicated if the inequalities in income, employment or access to fundamental services are not yet fully resolved. The FAO is committed to further assisting Viet Nam to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and supporting Vietnam’s perspective of ensuring food and nutrition security, building a prosperous future together”.
At the Ceremony, Madam Rana Flowers also handed the FAO’s Letter of Attention on the technical assistance for the Project “Support for development of  National Strategy and Action Plan for Integrated Plant Health Management” to the Vice Minister of MARD on the occasion of the International Year of Plant Health 2020. 

As one of the celebrations for the World Food Day, awards were presented to the students who won the poster competition themed “Honour the Food Heroes during the COVID-19 Pandemic”, which was organised by Viet Nam National University of Agriculture. In addition, with the assistance of the Italian Embassy in Viet Nam, Italian and Vietnamese chefs demonstrated how to prepare a healthy meal to facilitate a positive and healthy life.