Guyana receives prestigious FAO award for reducing hunger by half

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on Sunday formally recognised Guyana and 37 other countries for reducing hunger by half, well ahead of international targets for the year 2015.
FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva presented the award to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds during a high-level ceremony attended by several heads of state. A total of 18 countries received diplomas for early achievement of targets under both Millennium Development Goal One (MDG1) — to halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015 — plus the more stringent World Food Summit (WFS) goal of halving the absolute number of hungry people by 2015. They are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Twenty countries received diplomas for meeting the MDG1 target alone. They are: Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, The Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Togo, and Uruguay.
Recognition
Recognition in both cases was based on hunger reductions achieved between 1990-92 and 2010-2012. The WFS goal was set in 1996, when 180 nations met at FAO headquarters to discuss ways to end hunger. The MDG1 target was established by the international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000.
In addition, eight countries were identified as being on track to meeting the MDG1 hunger target: The Bahamas, Chad, China, Ethiopia, Gabon, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
“To each and every one of you, I want to say that you are living proof that when societies decide to put an end to hunger, and when there is political commitment from governments, we can transform that will into concrete action and results,” Graziano da Silva told the countries’ representatives.
Elimination of hunger
The director general pointed out that there were just over 900 days until the 2015 MDG deadline, but he urged countries to go beyond that and aim for the complete elimination of hunger.
“We are the first generation that can end hunger, which has plagued humanity since the birth of civilisation. Let’s seize this opportunity,” he said. Graziano da Silva said strong regional commitments were supporting national anti-hunger efforts. He also thanked the international donor community for helping to initiate and scale-up successful hunger-fighting actions in numerous countries.
The FAO chief also pointed out that 15 developing countries already had hunger rates below five per cent, dating back to at least 1990: Argentina, Barbados, Dominica, Brunei Darussalam, Egypt, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Distinct honour
In accepting Guyana’s award, Prime Minister Hinds said it is a distinct honour for him, on behalf of President Donald Ramotar, to receive the special award in recognition of Guyana’s success in combatting hunger and making outstanding progress in guaranteeing food security for citizens.
“We are pleased that the FAO has recognised Guyana as one of the nations to have met the anti-hunger targets. I wish to pay special tribute to the secretary general, Mr José Graziano da Silva and his staff and I thank them all for their support.”
Hinds also expressed congratulations to those countries that have also made significant progress, and like Guyana, have been awarded.
“As Guyana accepts this award, I wish to acknowledge that food security is not a single issue; it is an interdependent and interconnected set of issues involving agriculture, energy, the environment, government policy, and, for developing countries like Guyana, our overall growth and development.”
He told the FAO head that as proud as Guyana was as a nation to be so highly honoured: “I believe that a special tribute must be paid to our women and women worldwide, on this occasion. Of course, the women who are among our farming communities will immediately come to mind. Praise for their production and marketing of farm produce is well known, greatly admired, and deserving of outstanding recognition. The women farmers of Guyana who produce vegetables, herbs and spices, root crops, whether on small plots, in kitchen gardens, or as workers on estates, are well known to be hard-working and very skilled.
The ceremony was attended by numerous representatives of FAO member states including: President Boni Yayi of the Republic of Benin, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, President Porfirio Lobo Sosa of Honduras, President Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, President Nicolás Maduro Moros of Venezuela, Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa of the Republic of São Tomé and Principe. The ceremony took place during the week-long meeting of FAO’s highest governing body, the Conference.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on Sunday formally recognised Guyana and 37 other countries for reducing hunger by half, well ahead of international targets for the year 2015.
FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva presented the award to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds during a high-level ceremony attended by several heads of state. A total of 18 countries received diplomas for early achievement of targets under both Millennium Development Goal One (MDG1) — to halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015 — plus the more stringent World Food Summit (WFS) goal of halving the absolute number of hungry people by 2015. They are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Twenty countries received diplomas for meeting the MDG1 target alone. They are: Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, The Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Togo, and Uruguay.
Recognition
Recognition in both cases was based on hunger reductions achieved between 1990-92 and 2010-2012. The WFS goal was set in 1996, when 180 nations met at FAO headquarters to discuss ways to end hunger. The MDG1 target was established by the international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000.
In addition, eight countries were identified as being on track to meeting the MDG1 hunger target: The Bahamas, Chad, China, Ethiopia, Gabon, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
“To each and every one of you, I want to say that you are living proof that when societies decide to put an end to hunger, and when there is political commitment from governments, we can transform that will into concrete action and results,” Graziano da Silva told the countries’ representatives.
Elimination of hunger
The director general pointed out that there were just over 900 days until the 2015 MDG deadline, but he urged countries to go beyond that and aim for the complete elimination of hunger.
“We are the first generation that can end hunger, which has plagued humanity since the birth of civilisation. Let’s seize this opportunity,” he said. Graziano da Silva said strong regional commitments were supporting national anti-hunger efforts. He also thanked the international donor community for helping to initiate and scale-up successful hunger-fighting actions in numerous countries.
The FAO chief also pointed out that 15 developing countries already had hunger rates below five per cent, dating back to at least 1990: Argentina, Barbados, Dominica, Brunei Darussalam, Egypt, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Distinct honour
In accepting Guyana’s award, Prime Minister Hinds said it is a distinct honour for him, on behalf of President Donald Ramotar, to receive the special award in recognition of Guyana’s success in combatting hunger and making outstanding progress in guaranteeing food security for citizens.
“We are pleased that the FAO has recognised Guyana as one of the nations to have met the anti-hunger targets. I wish to pay special tribute to the secretary general, Mr José Graziano da Silva and his staff and I thank them all for their support.”
Hinds also expressed congratulations to those countries that have also made significant progress, and like Guyana, have been awarded.
“As Guyana accepts this award, I wish to acknowledge that food security is not a single issue; it is an interdependent and interconnected set of issues involving agriculture, energy, the environment, government policy, and, for developing countries like Guyana, our overall growth and development.”
He told the FAO head that as proud as Guyana was as a nation to be so highly honoured: “I believe that a special tribute must be paid to our women and women worldwide, on this occasion. Of course, the women who are among our farming communities will immediately come to mind. Praise for their production and marketing of farm produce is well known, greatly admired, and deserving of outstanding recognition. The women farmers of Guyana who produce vegetables, herbs and spices, root crops, whether on small plots, in kitchen gardens, or as workers on estates, are well known to be hard-working and very skilled.
The ceremony was attended by numerous representatives of FAO member states including: President Boni Yayi of the Republic of Benin, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, President Porfirio Lobo Sosa of Honduras, President Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, President Nicolás Maduro Moros of Venezuela, Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa of the Republic of São Tomé and Principe. The ceremony took place during the week-long meeting of FAO’s highest governing body, the Conference.