KABUL - United Nations agencies and their Afghan Government partners celebrated the 32nd World Food Day in Kabul yesterday by highlighting the role of cooperatives in improving food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger. 
Download the World Food Day 2012 statement in English | Dari 

“One of the necessary steps to achieving food security is to support and invest in cooperatives, producer organizations and other rural institutions,” said a statement issued jointly by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) yesterday.

Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, Mohammad Asif Rahimi, Afghanistan’s Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, said Afghanistan’s path to peace is food. “…and cooperatives play vital role in improving the productivity of food production, by improving farmers access to new technologies, improved seeds, fertilizers, as well as better markets for their products,” said Minister Rahimi.

The theme of this year’s World Food Day celebration was “Agricultural Cooperatives: key to feeding the world”.

Ousmane Guindo, FAO Representative in Afghanistan, read out the message of the FAO Director-General who said, “For FAO and its partners, agricultural cooperatives are natural allies in the fight against hunger and extreme poverty.”