Taroudant, Morocco - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations awarded Morocco for its "remarkable progress" in the fight against hunger.
During a ceremony on Monday at the FAO headquarters in Rome, José Graziano da Silva, the Organization's Director-General, awarded Morocco “for obtaining the Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG-1).”
Accepted by Aziz Akhannouch, the Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Marine Fisheries, the award recompenses the kingdom for reducing the prevalence of undernourishment.
According to the official website of the FAO, “Morocco reduced the prevalence of undernourishment from 6.7% in 1990-92, to less than 5% in 2011-13.”
The same source added, “In the same period, the number of undernourished people in Morocco has been reduced from 1.7 million in 1990-92 to 1.6 million in 2011-13.”
Morocco has reduced the proportion of people suffering from hunger before the 2015 deadline, thus having met the World Food Summit target.
"One year ago we celebrated the first 38 countries that had achieved the [Millennium Development Goal] target, three years in advance of the 2015 deadline. 18 of them had also met the World Food Summit target. Now we come together to recognize three more countries for their efforts," Graziano da Silva said.
While many countries have successfully fought hunger and undernourishment, the global objective of totally eradicating hunger and malnutrition remains a significant challenge for the world.
"Even today, in a world of abundant food over 840 million people are still undernourished," the FAO Director-General said.
According to l’Economist, “Morocco will also be honored at the first day of the FAO Council through the presentation of the "Green Morocco Plan", a national strategy that led to the realization of the first MDGs, and the signing of a tripartite agreement for South-South cooperation (Morocco-Guinea-FAO)”.
Edited by Timothy Filla
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