"Food prices - from crisis to stability" has been chosen as this year’s theme for World Food Day to shed some light on price volatility and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.
This year’s celebrations will be held in Mqanduli village near Mthatha in OR Tambo District in the Eastern Cape province.
Ms Rosebud Kurwijila, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Representative in South Africa, together with Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the South African Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Ms Zoleka Capa, the MEC for Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in the Eastern Cape province will join hands in honour of this day.
The purpose of the day is to sensitise policy makers to develop policies and frameworks that will help to implement the Zero Hunger Plan. This will ensure food security for all particularly the vulnerable. The economic recession, rising food prices, the rand/dollar exchange rate, natural disasters and rising crude oil prices have all directly contributed to food insecurity with the developing world being hard hit.
According to the World Bank, in 2010 to 2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty. The crisis is particularly affecting small-scale farmers and rural areas in poor countries, where 70 per cent of the world's hungry live and work.
Details of the event:
Venue: Mqanduli village (at the Milling plant), Mthatha, Eastern Cape
Date: 16 October 2011
Time: 08h00
For more information please contact:
Mr Tshepiso Ngoma
Tel: 012 354 8536
Cell: 083 2961 503
E-mail: Tshepiso.Ngoma@fao.org
Enquiries:
Mr Steve Galane
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Cell: 083 635 7346
Mr Ayabulela Ngoqo
Media Liaison Officer: MEC's Office: Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (Eastern Cape)
Cell: 071 603 3235
World Food Day 2011
