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An event took place at ADA University, October 16, dedicated to the World Food Day, with joint organizational support from the IDEA Public Association, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

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

This year, the World Food Day is dedicated to the subject “Let’s change the migration’s future: let’s invest in food safety and development of rural areas”.

At ADA University, Leyla Aliyeva first became acquainted with an exhibition comprised of samples of publications related to different activities of the research institutes under the Agriculture Ministry, as well as catalogues and booklets.

The event commenced by the show of a video-film dedicated to the World Food Day.

Leyla Aliyeva addressed the event.

Underscoring the significance of the World Food Day, Leyla Aliyeva brought to attention that food safety and development of rural areas are a key factor in securing peace, stability and sustainable development, noting that existing problems in this area could lead to conflicts, famine, and mass migration.

“The first two objectives of the Agenda for 2030 Sustainable Development are putting an end to poverty and famine. It expresses the general idea that we cannot build peace loving, inclusive and sustainable societies without having reached these goals. In the societies we are going to build people should not be forced to flee from their homes to survive, and this should be their own choice. Migration is closely tied with unequal development. Almost half of the world population and 75 percent of the poor are living in rural areas, and are dependent on the agriculture. Therefore, by merely investing in the development of rural areas, we can prevent millions of people from leaving these areas. Nonetheless, changing the future of migration does not mean that we have to only focus on developing agriculture in any form. By investing only in climate-oriented smart agriculture, we can change development of villages and make it more sustainable”, - said Leyla Aliyeva.

She talked about the activities of IDEA Public Association, works carried out in the previous six years, and projects being significant in terms of food safety, protection of environment, and sustainable development: “During the 6 years of our operation, we have implemented a number of projects, and reached good results. Some of our projects include planting of 5 million trees in Azerbaijan, protection of endangered animals, creation of research laboratories, organization of textbooks for pupils and students, printing of books, and organization of various exhibitions aiming to raise awareness of the environment. Of course, we have tried to approach all our projects in a creative way. However, we understand that time works against us, and it is time to act.”

Today, I would like to give you more information, especially of several projects of IDA associated with food safety, development of rural areas, at the same time, issues concerning the environment. A few months ago, in the framework of cooperation with FAO, a joint project on creation of orchards in Ismailli district for low-income Azerbaijani citizens was launched. I am glad to say we started implementing this project in Shamkir district just three days ago. We plan to start implementing this project in other seven districts of Azerbaijan in the course of a few weeks, and I am hopeful we will cover other districts of the country in the future. Our objective is to improve the well-being of low-income families, and help them collect sustainable income.

In order to contribute to improving the environment’s condition, as well as support the agriculture, which depends on it, we undertook another endeavour, and IDEA started last year implementation of a project on cleaning the delta of the Kur. This project aims at improving fish resources, water quality and, in general, environment in areas along the river.

Today we have the opportunity to send a message to the world: change the future of migration – invest in food safety and development of rural areas. I believe, acting together, we can achieve great changes, and, by changing ourselves, each of us can have a great impact on the world.”

Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov, head of FAO’s Partnership and Coordination Office in Azerbaijan Melek Çakmak and head of the International Migration Organization’s Representative Office in Azerbaijan Serhan Aktoprak spoke at the event.

Then a video-appeal of FAO’s Director General José Graziano da Silva dedicated to the World Food Day was shown.

Thereafter, a video-footage on the project “Creation of orchards for low-income families in Azerbaijan” was presented.

The event continued with panel discussions on “Economic and political dimensions of migration: impacts on agriculture and food”.