World Food Day 2021

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations marks World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945. World Food Day was first held on 16 Oct 1981.

WFD 2021 Theme

Our Actions are our Future – we can all be food heroes

The theme of this year’s World Food Day, “Our actions are our future,” calls on everyone to be a food hero contributing to the transformation of agri-food systems for Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind.  

Objectives of WFD

The objectives of World Food Day are to:

• encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental efforts to this end;
• encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries;
• encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;
• heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world;
• promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and
• strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition, and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.

Global Hunger Index 

• The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels. The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.
• GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.
• The GHI is designed to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions and call attention to those areas of the world where hunger levels are highest and where the need for additional efforts to eliminate hunger is greatest. 

Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide works with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives. It is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries.

Welthungerhilfe

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany, independent of politics and religion. It was established in 1962, as the German section of the “Freedom from Hunger Campaign”.

How are the GHI scores calculated?

First, for each country, values are determined for four indicators:

1. UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);
2. CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);
3. CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and
4. CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments). 

In the 2021 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 101st out of the 116 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2021 GHI scores. With a score of 27.5, India has a level of hunger that is serious.