Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, has called for ensuring the right to food for all.
The princess on Monday presided over the World Food Day 2024 Asia-Pacific Regional Observance, which was held at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok under the theme “Right to Foods: For Better Life and Better Future, Leave No One Behind.”
In her remarks, she said the world’s farmers produce enough food to feed more than the global population, yet hunger persists. According to FAO statistics from 2022, the Asia-Pacific is home to half of the world’s undernourished people.
This, she said, is compounded by globalisation, urbanisation, and the fast pace of life, leading to a high consumption of calorie-dense convenience foods high in salt, sugar, and fat. Therefore, although people may consume enough calories, they might not get enough nutrients to lead a healthy life.
Diets containing too many unhealthy foods contribute to the rise of cardiovascular and non-communicable diseases. These are not just individual problems but escalate to national issues as productivity of the workforce declines and illnesses put pressure on public health expenditures, the princess said.
Malnutrition is ubiquitous — it exists in all countries and socio-economic classes either in the form of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies or overweight and obesity, she said.
"This year’s World Food Day theme ... is a clarion call to everyone. It underscores the need for everyone everywhere to have access to a diverse variety of nutritious, affordable, and safe foods," she said.
"The diversity of food is not only essential for the proper nutrition of people but also crucial for the long-term health of the environment on which we depend to produce these foods. Our environment needs biodiversity to thrive and continue providing nutritious food to people."
The princess further said the right to food is a basic human right enshrined in international law. However, not everybody in the world has access to the foods they need to lead a healthy life. The right to food, then, is about far more than calories for survival — it is about healthy and diverse diets with adequate nutrients, she said.