Mexico’s Crusade Against Hunger will address the basic needs of those who have not benefited from Mexico’s economic growth, said Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at a meeting with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome last month.
The FAO will support the Mexican government’s effort to fight hunger in a country where as much as 40 percent of the population is living in extreme poverty. Many more, including children, experience hunger or malnutrition.
FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva stated, “It is important for government at all levels, plus civil society and the private sector, to coordinate their efforts and take action together.” He described the FAO’s role as collaborative, identifying and building synergy among different groups in order to make Mexico’s Crusade Against Hunger successful.
Mexico’s Crusade Against Hunger was initiated in January 2013 with a decree from the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL) published in Mexico’s Federal Register. The decree became a government mandate shortly thereafter. Mexico’s Crusade Against Hunger has five main objectives:
1) End hunger for people living in poverty, through food availability and nutrition.
2) Eliminate child malnutrition and improve height and weight indicators.
3) Increase food production and income for small farmers.
4) Improve storage facilities and distribution to minimize post-harvest food loss and waste.
5) Engage and mobilize communities in ending hunger.
President Nieto’s administration will work toward these goals through the duration of his term, until at least 2018. Programs will be established initially in 400 communities characterized as extremely impoverished. The Crusade Against Hunger will target those who have “fallen through the cracks” in Mexican society, as well as the underlying social issues that contribute to systemic hunger. In his meeting with the FAO, President Nieto stressed the importance of community-based commitment and energy in targeting and assisting certain populations.
– Kat Henrichs
Sources: FAO,Global Agriculture Information Network
Photo: News Record