An event dedicated to the World Food Day took place at the Heydar Aliyev Center, with joint organizational support of IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), October 27.

Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of IDEA Public Union, FAO Goodwill Ambassador Leyla Aliyeva attended the event.

In her speech, Leyla Aliyeva said this event was a great opportunity to turn the world’s attention to such calls as famine and food safety. Touching upon the topic of this year’s food day, Leyla Aliyeva underscored that she approaches this issue, as a goodwill ambassador of FAO and tireless activist in the field of protecting the environment, and, in particular, as a world citizen, very delicately. Saying “We have to make thorough change to the style of food production and consumption in order to properly react to the new realities associated with the changing climate”, - Leyla Aliyeva emphasized the significance of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Agenda in the period up until 2030.

Saying “If we want to secure food safety for the gradually increasing world population, then we have to achieve sustainability, profitability and long-lasting development in agriculture”, Leyla Aliyeva noted that climate change affects the ecosystem an rural population more. From this standpoint, she pointed out the significance of applying FAO’s smart agriculture approach based on climate all over the world. She talked about IDEA’s activities, actions taken during the last five years, and gave information about the new project, which is of special importance in terms of food safety and protection of the environment.

“Thanks to the endeavours we have shown with a view to contributing to keeping the marine environment alive and providing support to rural communities who depend on it, IDEA has put forward recently a project on multilateral cleaning of Kur River’s delta. Why is this project very important? First, I would like to say that Kur River makes about a thousand kilometres on its way, starting from our western borders down to the Caspian Sea, and it has been of great importance for the population residing along its banks. Moreover, Kur River is the main area of breeding Caspian sturgeon, the most ancient and rare fish type in the world”.

It was told that the new project would pursue a goal of improving the quality of fish resources and water and, in general, the ecology, which will be beneficial for both the environment and people, mentioning that numerous people have suffered from food shortage, which claimed more lives than such diseases as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

In conclusion, Leyla Aliyeva said: “By our work, hope, confidence, delicacy an love, we can solve all problems and build a brighter future”.

Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyngulu Baghyrov and head of FAO’s Partnership and Coordination Office in Azerbaijan Melek Çakmak delivered a speech.

Then a video message of FAO’s Director General José Graziano da Silva in connection with the World Food Day was shown.

The event continued with panel discussions on the topic “Climate change and small households”.