India and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrated 80 years of partnership on World Food Day 2025, highlighting the country’s remarkable journey from food scarcity to self-sufficiency. The event, held in New Delhi, underscored India’s leadership in food security and sustainable agriculture.
Delivering the keynote address, Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, lauded FAO’s enduring technical support and collaboration over the decades. He credited this partnership with helping India achieve self-sufficiency in food grains, promote crop diversification, and enhance farmer resilience through sustainable and innovative agricultural practices.
“From food-deficient beginnings at the dawn of independence, India has transformed into a food-surplus nation that feeds 1.4 billion people and contributes significantly to global food security,” Dr. Chaturvedi said. He emphasized the need for the future of Indian agriculture to focus on nutrition-sensitive farming that ensures healthy, diverse, safe, and affordable diets for all.
A founding member of FAO since 1945, India has demonstrated how hunger and malnutrition can be reduced at scale through a combination of production systems, efficient delivery mechanisms, and progressive policies.
Dr. Chaturvedi highlighted that despite holding less than four percent of the world’s agricultural land and freshwater resources, India has maintained food self-sufficiency and price stability through mechanisms such as public stockholding and Minimum Support Price (MSP). These initiatives ensure affordable food access for over 800 million people under the National Food Security Act, reflecting India’s rights-based approach to food security.
He also credited the country’s 146 million small and marginal farmers as the backbone of India’s agricultural progress. Targeted interventions—such as stress-tolerant seeds, concessional credit, crop insurance, and climate-smart practices—have enhanced productivity and resilience.
Reaffirming India’s commitment to sustainable agriculture, Dr. Chaturvedi spoke about national initiatives in micro-irrigation, integrated and natural farming, organic agriculture, and the development of digital public infrastructure like AgriStack, which provides farmers with access to real-time data and technological tools.
A highlight of the celebration was the release of FAO’s coffee table book Sowing Hope, Harvesting Success, which chronicles eight decades of agricultural collaboration between FAO and India.
The event was attended by Shombi Sharp, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India, and Takayuki Hagiwara, FAO Representative in India. Sharp praised India’s journey as “the story of India’s rise as a global agricultural leader,” while Hagiwara reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to supporting India’s vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Aligned with the World Food Day 2025 theme “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future”, the event brought together senior government officials, representatives from UN agencies and development partners, and farmers from across the country.
Concluding his address, Dr. Chaturvedi called for deeper international cooperation, knowledge-sharing, and collective action to address global food security challenges and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He also extended greetings on the occasion of World Food Day and wished everyone a happy Diwali.