World Food Day is a reminder and call to action for the international community to strengthen efforts to end world hunger and malnutrition.
Today, nearly one billion people suffer from chronic hunger, which means that they do not get enough food to satisfy their body's basic nutritional needs.
Feed the Future is the U.S. government's global hunger and food security initiative and works with partner countries to support their own agriculture development objectives to increase agricultural productivity and improve nutrition, which can help reduce poverty and hunger. Seventy-five percent of the world's poor live in rural areas in developing countries, where most people's livelihoods rely directly on agriculture, and women in the developing world make up to forty-three percent of the agriculture… more »
Today, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton co-hosted an event with President Joyce Banda of Malawi, to highlight both the progress made in the last three years under Feed the Future and the contributions of civil society organizations to advance our food security goals.
The highlight of the event was an extraordinary commitment by civil society organizations.
As Secretary Clinton said, "Today, I am pleased to announce a new commitment by civil society groups...InterAction, an alliance of 198 U.S.-based organizations, is pledging more than one billion dollars of private, non-government funds over the next three years to… more »
This morning, Secretary Clinton announced that Dr. Daniel Hillel, a U.S. and Israeli citizen, is the winner of the 2012 World Food Prize for pioneering work in micro-irrigation and promoting sustainable agricultural development. His work over 50 years, in over 30 countries, has allowed countless farmers to maximize water efficiency in agriculture, improve crop production, and minimize environmental impacts. Dr. Hillel is an international authority on soil and water management, and we congratulate him on today's well-deserved announcement.
Micro irrigation technologies such as drip irrigation are simple yet highly effective techniques of applying water in small, continuous… more »
Food security representatives from around the world are gathering here at the Department of State today to finish a two-day meeting of the signatories of the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI). In 2009 at the G-8 Summit, global leaders, including President Obama, endorsed the L'Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security, agreeing to "to act with the scale and urgency needed to achieve sustainable global food security."
This marked a turning point for international efforts to achieve food security worldwide. Leaders committed to a take a comprehensive approach to ensure food security, coordinate effectively, support country-owned processes and plans, engage multilateral… more »
We congratulate Ambassador Ertharin Cousin on her appointment this week as the next Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP). We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with WFP and the other the UN food agencies based in Rome. The WFP has a long and illustrious history of responding to the world's most pressing food and hunger crises, and under the energetic leadership of Ambassador Cousin, we are confident that it will continue its remarkable work as a leader of global efforts to eradicate hunger.
As the Ambassador to the UN food agencies in Rome, Ambassador Cousin has already worked closely with WFP, FAO, IFAD and other Rome-based international organizations and diplomatic missions to ensure… more »
2011 saw many changes for the Secretary's Office of Global Food Security and several advances in our international agenda. I joined the growing team in June, and am proud of our progress over the year. I eagerly anticipate more accomplishments as we take the reins of the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI) group and through U.S. leadership of the G-8 in 2012.
AFSI signatories' endorsement of the L'Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security at the 2009 G-8 Summit marked a turning point for international efforts to achieve sustainable global food security. Under the Joint Statement, the United States and other donors agreed to be accountable for delivering a comprehensive approach to improving food security, which entails effective coordination, support for country-owned processes and plans, and engagement of multilateral institutions to promote food security… more »
Thank you, Jonathan, for this insightful post on World Food Day and the importance of strengthening our efforts as an international community to end world hunger…
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Spokesperson Nuland (Oct. 17): "Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael Posner, led a 22-member interagency delegation from the U.S. to discuss the full range of human rights issues affecting the country." more »
Oct. 16: Judith Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, held a conversation with Ann Cody, Director of Policy and Global Outreach, BlazeSports; and Kirk Bauer, Executive Director of Disabled Sports USA. more »
![Dairy farmer Margaret Chinkwende explains her work to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Martin Banda of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Lilongwe, Malawi, August 5, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018234410im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0810_clinton_malawi_m.jpg)
![Dr. Daniel Hillel inspecting fruit picked from drip-irrigated citrus trees in the Kingdom of Jordan, where he helped develop the irrigation system. [Photo Courtesy of the World Food Prize]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018234410im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0612_OrangesJordan_Hillel_m.jpg)
![A woman dries crop at a paddy field in Burha Mayong, east of Gauhati, India, May 26, 2011. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018234410im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0203_woman_agriculture_m.jpg)
![Amb. Cousin walks through a marketplace in Bangladesh, Sept. 29, 2010. [Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018234410im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2010_0929_marketplace_bangladesh_m.jpg)
![Indian women harvest rice in a field at Raja Panichanda village, on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, on November 4, 2011. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018234410im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0110_rice_women_m.jpg)
