Havana, Cuba.- World Food Day is celebrated today for the 37th time, and as in other years, this date is used to renew the commitment of the international community to eradicate hunger.

On this occasion, the motto of the celebration is to change the future of migration and invest in food security and rural development.

In this regard, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, recently pointed out that rural development is crucial for rural economies, the key to sustainable and fundamental livelihoods, in order to address the root causes of migration due to vulnerability.

By investing in inclusive and sustainable growth, the international community can exploit the potential of migration to support development as well as to promote the resilience of displaced and host communities, thus laying the foundations for long-term recovery, da Silva added.

In Cuba, various activities related to this date have been carried out, including, on October 10, the traditional popular race in the Municipality 10 de Octubre, to honor the homeland festivities.

Among other things, the Panel: Women and youth in rural areas in the current demographic and migratory context, was held.

The FAO representative in Cuba, Theodor Friedrich, with a view to celebrating this date, recently told the press that it is a worldwide problem for people, especially young people and women, to leave the rural areas and in many cases their countries in search of a better life.

Life in the countryside is not easy, the official added, work in the agricultural sector is often not very pleasant, nor well paid. If climate change falls on top of this, it is natural for people to choose other habitats to work with.

However, he considered, this endangers the future of agriculture, food production and, finally, food and nutritional security and sovereignty.

The Cuban representative of the international organization said that FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food Industry and Fisheries, work together to achieve such a paradigm shift.

An example of this, he added, is the roadmap for the implementation of conservation agriculture, also known as climate-smart agriculture.