The United Nations marked World Food Day on Friday 16 October under the theme “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow”, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stressing that new tools must reach the people who need them most and the World Food Programme (WFP) calling for innovation, early action and sustained funding.
According to FAO, the main ceremony took place at its headquarters in Rome on the last day of the World Food Forum, and events were held in more than 150 countries. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu opened the ceremony, saying: “Innovation must serve people and improve lives.” A statement from Pope Leo XIV, read on his behalf, called for a “new global food order”, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a video message stating that food is a basic human right, FAO said.
Recognising Innovators
FAO said it presented two Awards for Achievement. One went to the Aerospace Information Research Institute of China for CropWatch Cloud, a platform now adopted by 32 countries and integrated into FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform. The other went to Addis Fekadu Andeta of Arba Minch University in Ethiopia for work on processing enset, a staple crop, including a microbial starter culture that shortens fermentation and tools that reduce post-harvest losses. FAO also said it honoured 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development at a ceremony on Thursday, and that almost 1,000 students aged 9 to 13 attended Junior World Food Day in person the same day.
WFP’s Warning on Shocks
In its own World Food Day release, WFP said innovations reached 132.5 million people in 75 countries and territories last year. It also cited 266 million people facing acute hunger worldwide last year, and estimated that the 2026 to 2027 El Niño could push 49 million more people into acute food insecurity across 45 countries by the end of 2027. WFP said the FAO Food Price Index reached an almost four-year high in September and that 16 countries had food inflation above 15 percent, up from ten in January.
WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau said the rise in hunger is mostly man-made, pointing to conflict, extreme weather and what he called a “triple chokepoint” on global trade routes involving the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab and the Black Sea. WFP called on leaders to end conflicts and allow safe humanitarian access, provide flexible and predictable funding, invest in anticipatory action, and scale up proven innovations with business and technology partners.
Why It Matters
The messages from Rome and WFP point in the same direction: technology alone does not feed people unless it is affordable, locally relevant and paired with funding and peace. With food prices rising and an El Niño forecast, WFP’s message is that forecasts should trigger help before a shock hits rather than after, and that proven innovations need funding and safe access to reach people at scale.
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