World Food Day 2012: "Agricultural Cooperatives: Key to Feeding the World"

Today marks the 32nd annual World Food Day, which was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its member countries at the organization’s Twentieth General Conference way back in 1979. Its purpose is to raise awareness and understanding about world hunger.

World Food Day 2012
This year World Food Day focuses on agricultural cooperatives, specifically how they can help eradicate hunger and improve food security. According to the FAO:

“A cooperative is an association of women and men who come together to form a jointly owned, democratically controlled enterprise where generating a profit is only part of the story. Cooperatives put people before profit. They also help their members achieve their shared social, cultural and economic aspirations. A cooperative is a social enterprise that promotes peace and democracy.”

In other words, cooperatives enable producers to take advantage of market opportunities, have a louder negotiating voice, create jobs, increase food production, and improve food security—a big step in the right direction to feeding the one in seven people suffering from undernourishment.

How can you help?

• As mentioned, the purpose of World Food Day is to educate and raise awareness, so check out the World Food Day page for more information. Also, share this blog post with your friends and family via your social media channels so that they too can become more educated about world hunger.
• Support agricultural cooperatives in your community and around the world by donating to existing cooperatives (time has shown that it’s better to support existing cooperatives rather than new ones that may not have the same grassroots commitment).
• Food waste is another big problem, so do your best to reduce your family’s food waste. According to a recent study, simply halving the world’s food loss would feed the world’s 870 million people who do not have enough to eat, plus some.

 Photo credit: Peerakit Jirachetthakun POPCITY / Shutterstock.com