Malnutrition and obesity two chronic problems in Egypt: FAO official

CAIRO - 27 October 2018: Despite the difficult economic conditions that Egypt is facing nowadays, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has confirmed that Egypt has made significant progress in the field of food security and increased its productivity of many strategic crops such as wheat.

Representative of (FAO) to Egypt, Hussein Gadin, told Egypt Today on Friday that Egypt has been able to achieve food security as there is no hunger in Egypt. “There are problems and other challenges such as malnutrition and obesity, which are two main chronic problems in Egypt”

FAO, in cooperation with other international organizations, will organize a workshop next week in the Spanish Parliament that includes representatives of the Egyptian Parliament to develop mechanisms to combat obesity and malnutrition and to raise the awareness of parliamentarians about the importance of tackling food problems.

“Parliamentarians should issue legal legislation that force food companies in Egypt to write the details of the value of calories on the back of each food product,” Gadin said.

Gadin also said that Egypt has succeeded to achieve its food security through using a strategy that depends on modern methods of agriculture including irrigation.

Addressing a celebration held by Bibliotheca Alexandrina to mark the World Food Day, under the theme “Ending World Hunger by 2030, is Possible”, Gadin said Egypt is still facing huge challenges in light of the increasing demand for natural resources, particularly water, due to the growing needs of its large population.

Agriculture still consumes 85% of Egypt's water resources due to using traditional irrigation methods, he said, noting that Egypt largely depends on import to meet its local needs of basic food crops such as wheat and corn.

The organization is jointly operating with the Ministry of Agriculture to support sustainable agricultural development in Egypt within the development plan 2030. Efforts focus on diverse strategies to meet the target, he said, calling on officials and citizens to be aware of the need to pump in more investments and give attention to scientific research in the agriculture domain.

This event rings alarm bells about the recent increase in hunger figures, and calls upon the concerned parties to get back on the right track through showing serious commitment to one of the main sustainable development goals, and shedding light on the significance of collective work to put an end to famines.