The Department of Education (DepED) joined the celebration of World Food Day on Sunday, Oct. 16 by promoting the urgent need for global awareness against hunger.

Through the Bureau of Learner Support Services, DepED encouraged everyone to commemorate the celebration by “bringing together and enjoining stakeholders to take part in promoting global awareness and action to eradicate hunger and ensuring healthy diets for all, leaving no one behind.”

World Food Day is celebrated annually every 16th of October.

This year marks the 42nd Observance of World Food Day, with the theme “Leave no one behind. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all”.

On its website, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted that “too many people have been left behind” despite initiatives towards building a better world.

“In fact, millions of people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet, putting them at high risk of food insecurity and malnutrition,” the FAO said.

Worldwide, FAO noted that “more than 80 percent of the extreme poor live in rural areas and many rely on agriculture and natural resources for their living.”

FAO also pointed out that “access and availability” to nutritious food have been “increasingly impeded by multiple challenges” including the Covid-19 pandemic, conflicts, climate change, inequality, rising prices, and international tensions.

“People around the world are suffering the domino effects of challenges that know no borders,” FAO said.

Given this, FAO urged governments and organizations to “work together and create a better, more sustainable future for all.”