On October 16, IDEA Public Union, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, FAO Liaison and Partnership office in Azerbaijan, as well as Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan marked the 2018 World Food Day at Baku Convention Center, under the theme "Our Actions are our Future. A Zero Hunger world by 2030 is possible".

Before the event started, guests enjoyed a photo exhibition titled as #MyActions, featuring photos of local farmers and entrepreneurs, and explored various reports and brochures covering critical information about food, agriculture and natural resources. This year’s celebration also included food tasting by a group of rural women from Masallı, Aghdam, Lankəran, Ismayilli and Balakan districts and supported by Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project (AzRIP) of the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank.

The event started with demonstration of a short film on food waste (focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production), prepared as part of cooperation activities led by IDEA and FAO Azerbaijan. Guests also watched the video message by FAO Director General, José Graziano Da Silva addressing the World Food Day. Following the video, statements were delivered by Minister of Agriculture – Inam Karimov, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources – Mukhtar Babayev, FAO representative – Melek Cakmak and the representative of the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Goshgar Tahmazli. Speakers stressed the need to address the challenges of global food security and hunger. Finally, the opening session was followed by a panel discussion on promotion of agriculture and rural development and continued with short film screenings about success stories of farmers in agribusiness.

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World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. Events marking this day help highlight food-security issues across the world.