World Food Day 2018 celebrated with a Walk for Zero Hunger
On 16 October every year, World Food Day (WFD) is celebrated in over 150 countries to raise awareness about hunger and poverty and the need for global food security. WFD was inaugurated in November 1979 in honor of the date of the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and has been observed globally every year since then. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Our actions are our future”.
IITA staff members celebrating 2018 World Food Day with a walk for Zero Hunger.
IITA joined the World Food Day celebrations in a novel way with staff embarking on a 2-km Walk for Zero Hunger to commemorate the day. This was the WFD edition of the IITA wellness initiative called Walk for a Purpose, which is organized to mark international celebrations that are relevant to the Institute’s vision.
The event began with an exhibition showcasing IITA’s work on mandate crops at the Institute’s conference center in Ibadan, Nigeria, before the participants set out on the walk around the campus.
Speaking at the end of the walk, IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell appreciated everybody who took time to be there and lauded them as ambassadors of IITA and of the upcoming P4D Week. He reminded those present that World Food Day is directly connected to our research to fight hunger and reduce poverty, work for which we
were recently awarded the Africa Food Prize 2018.
[su_quote]“IITA’s mission is to transform African agriculture so we are all about Africans growing more food, getting quality food and good nutrition, raising income of farmers, promoting Zero Hunger, and transforming African agriculture; so we are all about World Food Day, 365 days a year; we are working on world food day,” Dashiell said.[/su_quote]
An exhibition showcased food products made from IITA mandate crops that can be promoted in food processing centers.
Also speaking afterwards, IITA Director of Country Alignment and Systems Integration, Kwesi Atta-Krah, highlighted the importance of World Food Day as a day to celebrate good quality food and the value of good nutrition. He also noted the significance of the Africa Food Prize received by IITA stating: “It is a very important award because it is highly contested throughout the continent and it is awarded to individuals and organizations that have been able to show innovation in agriculture not only in terms of the research but in the research and delivery of research products.”
