FAO: World FOod Day (16 October). Official Italian celebrations (1 October -15 December)

The World Food Security Summit will be held in Rome from 16 to 18 November. And within the framework of the “Italy with the UN against Hunger in the World” campaign, the foreign ministry’s UN-ROME coordination hub is organizing a series of events through the National Committee for the Official Italian Celebrations focused on the theme: “Providing Food Security in Times of Crisis”. According to the latest UN estimates the world’s population will increase from its current 6.8 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050—one-third more mouths to feed than today. This population growth will be concentrated almost entirely in developing countries. It is predicted that the Sub-Saharan African population will grow the fastest (by 108% or 980 million more people), while Eastern and Southeastern Asia will grow more slowly (by 11% or 228 million people). By 2050 nearly 70% of the world’s population will be living in cities and urban areas as compared with today’s 49%. It will be necessary to produce 70% more food for the 2.3 billion more people there will be in 2050, and at the same time combat problems such as poverty and hunger by using our scarce natural resources more efficiently and adapting ourselves to climate change. A High Level Experts Forum will be held in Rome on 12 and 13 October 2009 in advance on the November world summit to confront strategies for “How to Feed the World in 2050”. The Forum will bring together approximately 300 experts from academic circles, NGOs and the private sector, from developed and developing countries alike, and will prepare the terrain for the World Food Security Summit to be held in Rome from 16 to 18 November.