22 September 2016: As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nears the end of his tenure, he has asked the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to take the Zero Hunger Challenge forward. Speaking at the ‘Pathways to Zero Hunger’ high-level event on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly (UNGA), FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze and WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin committed their organizations to take over the Zero Hunger Challenge and pursue its goals.

The high-level event took place on 22 September 2016, in New York, US, and was co-organized by FAO, IFAD and WFP.

Ban said the Zero Hunger Challenge, launched in 2012 to create a world free from hunger and malnutrition within a generation, now lies at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He enumerated several developments since the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), when he launched the initiative, including that: the global population of undernourished people has fallen by nearly 70 million; tackling food waste has become a global cause; sustainable agriculture and food systems are at the heart of the Paris Agreement on climate change; and UN Member States have committed to Zero Hunger as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the Secretary-General underscored the fact that, “in a world of plenty,” nearly 800 million people still suffer from hunger, which he said “represents a collective moral and political failure.” He noted that, by tackling the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, Member States can support all the SDGs and build peaceful societies through food security.

Also addressing the high-level event, Peter Thomson, UNGA President, said the task of reaching Zero Hunger “is a daunting one, but with a solid partnership like this one, it is eminently achievable.” He underscored that, by 2030, the international community must transform agriculture, forestry and fisheries to generate a decent income and nutritious food for all. In order to do achieve this, he identified three key elements: raising public awareness so that people everywhere see the SDGs as both their individual rights and responsibilities; ingenuity, to develop the tools for putting the existent resources, technology, and knowledge to productive use for the SDGs; and leadership, to lead commitments to action, and action to results that benefit the people and the planet.

The Zero Hunger Challenge has five main objectives: providing access to enough food and a healthy diet for all people, all year round; putting an end to malnutrition in all its forms; transitioning to sustainable food systems from production to consumption; ending rural poverty, including by doubling smallholder productivity and incomes; and adapting food systems to eliminate loss and waste. [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General Remarks] [UNGA President Remarks] [FAO Press Release]