World Food Day – Harness AI to ensure every person has safe and affordable food, says UN

As food has become a basic human right, the UN called on countries to harness data, innovation, and technology, including artificial intelligence, to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.

''Yet around 645 million people faced hunger last year and nearly 2.7 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet,'' said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in a message on World Food Day, noting that overlapping shocks and crises are adding to these pressures, disrupting production and supply chains and driving up the cost of food and fertiliser and putting nutritious diets further out of reach for million.

'' We have the knowledge, technology and capacity to feed the world. It’s time to use it.''

Guterres called for harnessing data, innovation, and technology, including artificial intelligence, to ensure everyone can access nutritious food, bringing together scientists, researchers, innovators, farmers, Indigenous peoples and youth to find solutions and mobilising finance to make nutritious food more available and affordable, especially for developing countries.

World Food Day, celebrated annually on 16 October, this year was held under the banner of “Innovate Today. Nourish Tomorrow.”

WAM