FAO celebrates 80 years of partnership with India on World Food Day

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations marked its 80th anniversary alongside the celebration of World Food Day 2025, reaffirming eight decades of partnership with the Government of India in transforming India’s agrifood systems — from food shortage to food surplus and beyond.

The event was organized in alignment with World Food Day 2025’s theme, “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future,” and brought together senior officials from the Government of India, representatives from UN agencies and Rome-based agencies (RBAs), development partners, and farmers from across India. The celebration reflected on FAO’s enduring contribution to India’s agrifood systems transformation and its progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

From food-deficient beginnings at the dawn of independence, India’s achievements in food and agriculture have been truly remarkable. The country has transformed into a food-surplus nation that feeds 1.4 billion people and contributes to global food security. This progress has been driven by visionary policies, scientific innovations, and strong international collaboration spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) in close partnership with FAO. 

As a founding member of FAO since 1945, India’s journey exemplifies how hunger and malnutrition can be reduced at scale when production systems, delivery mechanisms, and policy innovation work in unison. 

The Chief Guest, Dr Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, MoA&FW, Government of India, delivered the keynote address, recognizing FAO’s technical expertise and partnership with the Ministry in achieving self-sufficiency in food grains, promoting crop diversification, and enhancing farmer resilience through innovation and sustainable practices. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to working with FAO and the global community, to build sustainable, resilient, and equitable food systems, ensuring better food and a better future for all.

A.P. Das Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, highlighted the growing importance of food processing, value addition, and entrepreneurship in enhancing farmer incomes, reducing post-harvest losses, and strengthening agrifood value chains.

The segment “FAO Through the Years” featured a special video message from Mr. Daniel Gustafson, Special Representative of the FAO Director-General, and an address by Professor R.B. Singh, former Assistant Director-General, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Professor Singh reflected on FAO’s pioneering work in strengthening agricultural research, capacity building, and farmer empowerment in India.

A Farmers’ Spotlight session followed, where farmers from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, and Punjab, shared their experiences of adopting sustainable, climate-smart, and innovative farming practices supported by FAO and its partners — embodying the spirit of resilience, innovation, and hope that defines FAO’s legacy.

As FAO looks to the future, its partnership with the Government of India continues to evolve — from ensuring food security to achieving nutrition security, from producing abundantly to producing sustainably. The MoA&FW and FAO reaffirm their shared vision to ensure that India not only feeds its people but nourishes them; not only secures food today but guarantees nutrition for tomorrow.