When participating in the opening of the World Food Forum, in Rome, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Monday (13) that “hunger is the sister of war”. “Whether it is fought with guns and bombs or with tariffs and subsidies.”
“Armed conflicts, in addition to human suffering and the destruction of infrastructure, disorganize input and food chains. Barriers and protectionist policies in rich countries disrupt agricultural production in the developing world.”
“From the tragedy in Gaza to the paralysis of the World Trade Organization, hunger has become synonymous with the abandonment of multilateral rules and institutions”, concluded the Brazilian president in his speech.
According to Lula, access to food continues to be a power resource. “There is no way to dissociate hunger from the inequalities that divide rich and poor, men and women, developed nations and developing nations.”
The Brazilian president highlighted that the world produces enough food to feed one and a half times the world’s population. Still, 673 million people are food insecure.
Lula also highlighted FAO’s announcement that the Brazil left the Hunger Map again.
“In 2024, we will reach the lowest proportion of households experiencing severe food insecurity in our history. We also recorded the lowest proportion of households with children under 5 years of age in a situation of severe food insecurity since 2004. We are interrupting the cycle of exclusion. A sovereign country is a country capable of feeding its people.”
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Multilateralism
Lula commented that Brazil is proud to be part of the 80-year history of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its work with the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
“It leaves no doubt that the world would be a worse place without multilateralism,” he said. “Thanks to FAO, a growing number of countries have recognized the right to food in their legislation,” he added.
The president recalled that, 10 years ago, he participated in the celebrations of the entity’s 70th anniversary. “A lot has changed during this period. We were then experiencing the enthusiasm of adopting the 2030 agenda. The world had come together around common goals and was moving towards a promising future.”
“Today, both our ability to act collectively and the optimism that animated us are shaken. The challenges have deepened, but we have no alternative but to persist. As long as there is hunger, FAO will remain indispensable.”
