We are grateful that the implementation of World Food Day commemoration surpassed expectations.Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Some 82,975 people visited an exhibition organized to commemorate World Food Day in Puudambu Village, Anggata Sub-district, South Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, on Nov 2-5, 2019.
The number of visitors exceeded the target, Director of Horticultural Germination of the Agriculture Ministry Sukarman remarked in his closing address.
"We are grateful that the World Food Day commemoration event was held in a manner that surpassed expectations. Moreover, the World Food Day theme of 'Intake of Agriculture and Food Industry Technology Toward Indonesia becoming World Food Barn by 2045' is a priority of the government in future," Sukarman noted here on Tuesday.
On the opening day of the national commemoration of World Food Day in Southeast Sulawesi on Nov 2, the ceremony was attended by 12 governors and deputy governors from across Indonesia, 16 foreign ambassadors and other diplomats, and 16 representatives of international organizations.
Some 50 thousand people had visited the World Food Day Expo on the first day. The expo had 266 display stands and 88 culinary stands.
The total transactions from direct sales and pre-orders during the three-day expo clocked Rp8 billion.
In the meantime, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that obesity and other forms of malnutrition affect nearly one in three people. Projections suggest that the figure will reach one in two by 2025.
A combination of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles has sent obesity rates soaring, not only in developed countries, but also other nations. The focus of the day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. Yet, in a world of billions, over 820 million people worldwide suffer from chronic undernourishment, and 60 percent of women and almost five million children under five years of age die daily of malnutrition-related causes.
While millions go hungry, 672 million people suffer from obesity, and a further 1.3 billion are overweight.
World Food Day 2018 focused on SDG 2 - Zero Hunger, themed "Our Actions are Our Future.”
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Translator: M Harianto, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
