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International Day of Potato: Harvesting diversity, feeding hope
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Tuesday, 28 May, 2024, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Rome
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Endorsing a proposal led by Peru in December 2023, United Nations General Assembly tasked the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with facilitating the first-ever International Day of Potato, to be an annual event that builds on the success of the International Year of the Potato, observed in 2008.
Produced in a variety of farming systems, from smallholders producing indigenous varieties by hand in the Andes to large commercial and mechanized farms on all continents of the world, potatoes are crucial in achieving food security, improving livelihoods, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this context, on May 30, 2024, FAO is hosting a global celebration for International Day of Potato 2024 at its Rome headquarters.
The high-level Ceremony will be inaugurated by a video message from FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, and Paula Narváez, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Keynote speakers include Angel Manuel Manero Campos, Minister of Agrarian Development and Irrigation of Peru, Bruno Archi, Ambassador, permanent representative of the Republic of Italy and Simon Heck, International Potato Centre (CIP) Director-General.
The event will be webcast and interpretation will be provided in the six FAO official languages and Italian.
The celebrations will provide a comprehensive platform to learn more about the role of the potato in combating hunger, poverty and environmental threats to agrifood systems as well as raise awareness of the threats the crop is facing, including climate variability, reduced soil fertility and diseases and pests.
The role of small-scale family farmers, a significant percentage of whom are women, in safeguarding the wide range of diversity of the crop will also be recognized, while the cultural and culinary dimensions of preparing and eating potato-based dishes will also be celebrated.
The International Day of Potato's theme will be ‘Harvesting Diversity, Feeding Hope’, emphasising the fact that with more than 5,000 improved varieties and farmers' varieties/landraces, there is ample choice for the needs of different production systems, culinary preferences and industrial applications, especially in these turbulent times when many agrifood systems are under threat worldwide.
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