Intercultural dialogue necessary in fight against hunger, says UN food agency

Intercultural exchanges between the world’s many peoples are essential to winning the battle against hunger and ecological devastation, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today in announcing the theme of this year's World Food Day.

The theme – Agriculture and Intercultural Dialogue – recalls the contribution of different cultures to world agriculture and argues that sincere intercultural dialogue is a precondition for progress against hunger and environmental degradation, the agency stressed in a news release.

World Food Day is celebrated 16 October every year to mark the day on which FAO was founded in 1945 and this year will be celebrated at ceremonies at FAO Headquarters in Rome and in more than 150 countries.

Throughout history, the intercultural movement of crops and livestock breeds has revolutionized diets and reduced poverty. For example, the potato, which can be grown quickly and economically, was introduced to northern Europe from South America in the 16th century, helping free the masses from long-standing hunger.

Maize, which is originally from the Americas, now feeds much of Africa. Europe and Africa contributed their plants to the Americas, including coffee, grapes and wheat. The introduction of the camel to Africa from Arabia allowed people to live and travel in more extreme environments and added protein from meat and milk to diets.

With agriculture, intercultural dialogue takes place at meetings and trade negotiations and every time an expert from one culture shows another something new in the laboratory or field.

“Intercultural dialogue between developing countries facing similar food and agriculture problems is an important way of sharing expertise and technologies,” FAO said. South-south cooperation in the form of sharing expertise and technologies has resulted in the transfer of many solutions suited to local conditions.

The agency also stressed the need for fairer access for developing countries to the rich nations’ markets. “Poor farmers cannot compete in an international marketplace if their goods are shut out of richer countries, while subsidized farm products from industrialized countries are sold at or even below production cost in poor countries," it said.

Many developing countries want to produce for export purposes, but will not reach their full potential until further dialogue among nations leads to a fairer trading system.