Written by Amrita Prakash, a grade 7 student.

October 16 is celebrated internationally as World Food Day – to celebrate and honour the day when the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded in 1945.

FAO is a part of the United Nations that works to defeat hunger in the world. The FAO this years said that due to COVID-19, this is no ordinary World Food Day. It called for global contribution and harmony to help all populations to fight and recover from the pandemic and to boost the food systems, so we can have a better tomorrow.

This year’s World Food Day was dedicated to highlighting food and agriculture as a primary part of responding to the crisis created by COVID-19. Prime Minister Narender Modi launched a commemorative coin to mark this day. The theme was – “Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future”.

Streets all over India were filled with food vendors selling local delicacies. People spoke about the importance of nutrition and health.

Measuring Hunger

There is a tool called the Global Hunger Index (GHI) that tracks and measures hunger globally as well as by region and by country. This is calculated annually.

According to the GHI, hunger has been declining since 2000. However, while many countries have also achieved reductions, in some countries hunger is still a problem and has even worsened.

World over, nearly 690 million people are undernourished; 144 million children suffer from stunting, which is caused by lack of nutrition. In 2018, 5.3 million children died before their fifth birthdays, in many cases as a result of undernutrition.

What can you do to make sure no one is hungry around you?