By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, Oct 9, GNA— The Amen Amen Institute, a non-governmental Organisation, in partnership with the United Nations (UN), Saturday embarked on a float to mark this year’s World Food Day (WFD) celebrations.
The float, which had members of the Amen Amen Institute who came from various parts of Accra, some staff of the UN and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as well as some traditional leaders, was to sensitise farmers and highlight the need to encourage local food production.
The participants marched to the forecourt of the Ministry of Food Agriculture (MOFA) through some principal streets in Accra to commemorate the 42nd World Food Day, which falls on October 16.
Addressing the participants, Mr Amen Amenreynolds Amen, the Founding President of the Amen Amen Institute, noted that the first security for human life was food.
He said the Institute, therefore, used the activity every year to create the needed awareness on food security.
The WFD is celebrated annually on October 16 to promote global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and to highlight the need to ensure healthy diets for all.
World Food Day was instituted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) in 1979.
This year’s edition, which falls on a Sunday, would be celebrated on Friday, October 14, in Ghana.
The Day would be marked with a flag-raising ceremony at Sogakope in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region, on the theme: “Leaving no one behind: Better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life.”
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), as many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night.
The WFP also noted that the number of those facing acute food insecurity had soared from 135 million to 345 million since 2019 and that a total of 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine.
The Amen Amen Institute, this year, donated GH¢10,000 to the MoFA to support the celebration and ensure food security.
Mr Amen said with an expected increase in population next year, the Institute hoped to raise its contributions in the coming years to meet food demand.
He urged members of the Institute to work hard and contribute more towards the celebrations next year and elimination of world hunger.
“The reason I am asking us to contribute more is that next year the population will rise and so, we must match that increase. Individually, let’s save towards this target,” he said.
The Institute also donated some food items to the Ministry to be given to orphanages.
Mr Gilbert Xorlanyo Ampeh, Deputy Director in charge of Finance and Administration at the MoFA, emphasised the need for the observance of the WFD, saying it was necessary to remind the world that “food, not merely a food, but a good food with nutrition sustains us.”
He commended Amen Amen Institute for its continued support to the Ministry and the WFD celebrations as well as improving food security in the country.
GNA