The World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945. World Food Day aims to heighten public awareness of the plight of the world’s hungry and malnourished and to encourage people worldwide to take action against hunger.

Agricultural cooperatives: key to feeding the world is the 2012 World Food Day theme, in recognition of the role cooperatives play in improving food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger.

According to the Director-General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva, this theme was chosen to highlight the many, concrete ways in which agricultural cooperatives and producer organizations help to provide food security, generate employment, and lift people out of poverty.

A cooperative is a social enterprise that balances two main goals:

1. Satisfying its members’ needs, and
2. Pursuing profit and sustainability.

Agricultural and food cooperatives can be registered cooperatives, or they may take other names and forms: producer organizations, self-help groups, unions and federations of producers, or Chambers of agriculture, to name a few.

Strong cooperatives and other producer organizations are able to overcome difficulties such as those described above by offering their members a variety of services. These services range from access to natural resources, information, communication, input and output markets, technologies and training. They also facilitate their participation in decision making-processes. Through practices like group purchasing and marketing, farmers gain market power and get better prices on agricultural inputs and other necessities.

Click here  for World Food Day 2012 video feature: Agricultural Cooperatives -- Key to Feeding the World

The celebration of World Food Day in Indonesia will be centered in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan.

A number of activities prepared for the event comprise:

• Exhibition and bazaar to support self-sufficiency and food security
• Seminar on Partnerships to Support Agroindustry for Food Availability and Sufficiency
• Diplomatic tour for members of the diplomatic corps to introduce investment opportunities in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Central Kalimantan
• Technology showcase to transfer knowledge and technologies to users
• Contests such as menu creation, coloring for children and local fruits consumption

World Food Day is not only celebrated in Indonesia, but also by those abroad who have connections with Indonesia especially Anggun Cipta Sasmi.

Anggun, born and raised in Indonesia has inspired women by her career as an Asian singer with international success. She has sold approximately 3 million copies of records worldwide and her success has spread throughout Europe as well as several parts of Asia.

Nominated as the FAO Goodwill Ambassador on World Food Day 3 years ago, Anggun is on the same list of Ambassadors  as Pierre Cardin, Roberto Baggio, Susan Sarandon and Celine Dion.

Anggun has accepted to act as testimonial for the YUNGA (Youth and United Nations Global Alliance) initiative, to involve children and youth in environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity.

“You can count on my continued, tireless support to FAO’s activities and worldwide campaign against hunger, to enable those living on the verge of famine to use their own two hands to resolve the problem of hunger at the roots,” Anggun says.

There are numerous examples of strong and inclusive organizations that foster collective action among people who depend on farming, fishing, forestry, livestock and related employment for their livelihoods. These organizations operate at the community, national or international level, working to combine the economic and social goals of their members.

Are there cooperatives around where you live?

On World Food Day 2012, let us resolve to give cooperatives a helping hand, enabling them to overcome constraints and play their full role in the drive to end hunger and poverty.

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Resources & Images: FAO, Climate Reality Indonesia, HPS, Omar Niode Foundation