Food & Climate
Despite the world’s population having more than tripled in 2025 compared to 1946, it produces enough calories to feed everyone, yet a significant percentage of people are still undernourished, according to the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Qu Dongyu.
Dongyu wrote an article on the occasion of World Food Day 2025, a copy of which was obtained by “Food & Climate” platform today, Monday, October 13, 2025.
He said: “This year, World Food Day marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, whose primary mandate was and remains to ensure humanity’s freedom from hunger and deprivation.
About 8.2% of the world’s population suffers from chronic undernourishment.
For comparison, the first global food survey conducted by the Organization in 1946 showed that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population at the time lived in areas where there was insufficient food. However, in 2025, despite the world’s population having more than tripled, the world produces enough Of calories to feed everyone.
The Old Survey and Chronic Undernutrition
In his article on World Food Day, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Qu Dongyu, said that as we mark this day and reflect on past, present, and future challenges, we remember what that old survey concluded: “The choice is between moving forward or moving backward.”
He explained that the FAO and its Member States have achieved much, such as: eradicating rinderpest, establishing food safety standards in the Codex Alimentarius, tripling global rice production since the establishment of the International Rice Commission in the late 1940s, concluding international treaties on fisheries and genetic resources, establishing early warning systems to monitor plant and animal pests and diseases, establishing the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to support trade, and developing nutrition guidelines to address the problems of stunting and overweight around the world.
When the desert locust outbreaks began in 2019—coinciding with the most difficult periods of the COVID-19 pandemic—$231 million was mobilized to help contain the crisis, averting losses estimated at With $1.77 billion, it ensured food security for more than 40 million people in 10 countries.
One-fifth of calories cross borders
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Qu Dongyu, wrote in his article that FAO’s achievements are due to its Member States, who have steadfastly supported the idea that a world free of hunger is a better world for everyone, North or South, rich or poor. These and other successes demonstrate what can be achieved when knowledge, resources, political will, and effective partnerships come together.
He said that maintaining the spirit of cooperation that has prevailed over the past 80 years is more urgent than ever, as the global food and agriculture system has become so interconnected that more than one-fifth of the world’s calories cross international borders before being consumed.
At the same time, transboundary threats, such as climate shocks, pests, diseases, economic crises, and conflicts, know no borders and can undermine years of progress in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
As we see today with the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza and fall armyworm And locusts, no country can face these challenges alone.
He continued: “We must ensure that the more than one billion people working in food and agriculture systems have the resilience to face the risks they continually face.”
He explained: “Today, we have the proven technologies, financial mechanisms, supportive policies, knowledge, and expertise to achieve Zero Hunger quickly and effectively. Enabling access to markets is essential to reducing the inequalities that undermine resilience and ensuring that food gets to where it’s needed. Full integration into markets requires facilitating access to drought-resistant seeds, sustainable fisheries and forestry standards, agreed-upon plant standards, digital technologies, innovative resource management tools, and early warning systems.”