FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization) applauded the decision by the United Nations (UN) to create two new international days and one entire year devoted to central issues in global food security and nutrition.

The UN General Assembly approved three new resolutions, creating three awareness-raising initiatives, focussed on plant health, food safety and pulses.

FAO and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, based at FAO, welcomed the decision to proclaim 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. With up to 40 per cent of global food crops lost annually due to plant pests, the importance of fostering healthy plants is critical for public opinion and policy makers. In economic terms alone, plant diseases cost the global economy around $220 billion annually, and invasive insects around $70 billion.

“The International Year of Plant Health is a key initiative to highlight the importance of plant health to enhance food security, protect the environment and biodiversity, and boost economic development,” Maria Helena Semedo, deputy director general, FAO, said.

Meanwhile, from now on, February 10 will be observed as World Pulses Day, keeping alive the positive momentum surrounding these healthy, nutritious, protein-rich, nitrogen-fixing legumes after FAO’s successful 2016 International Year of Pulses Campaign. Growing pulses contribute to sustainable crop production.

And June 7 will be World Food Safety Day, paying tribute to an increasingly important issue in today’s highly-interconnected food systems. FAO noted that the UN resolution expressly recognised that there was no food security without food safety.

Plant health
The UN General Assembly invited FAO, with the IPPC Secretariat, to serve as the lead agency to spearhead activities related to International Year of Plant Health, and called on governments, civil society and the private sector to engage at the global, regional and national levels. An International Plant Health Conference will be among thousands of plant health events to be held around the world in 2020.

Finland first proposed the year to the governing body of the IPPC in 2015. In July 2017, the FAO Conference adopted a resolution in support of the proposal. 

“Pests and diseases don’t carry passports or observe immigration requirements, and, therefore, the prevention of the spread of such organisms is very much an international undertaking that requires the collaboration of all countries. This is why Finland proposed to proclaim 2020 the International Year of Plant Health,” said Jari Leppä, the country’s agriculture and forestry minister.

“Despite the increasing impact of plant pests and diseases, resources are scarce to address the problem,” said Semedo, adding, “We hope this new International Year of Plant Health will trigger greater global collaboration to support plant health policies at all levels, which will contribute significantly to the Sustainable Development Agenda.”

Food safety
Unsafe food caused over 200 diseases worldwide, including some forms of cancer, highlighting how food security and the battle to eradicate hunger stretches well beyond production and distribution issues.

Food-borne diseases impact an estimated 600 million people every year and place a serious burden on human health, in particular that of young children and people living in low-income regions of the world. Moreover, safe foods contribute positively to trade, employment and poverty alleviation.

The UN resolution urged FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) to facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day - which was first promoted by Costa Rica - and to help meet the urgent need to raise awareness of the global importance to improve food safety.

The resolution also acknowledged the key roles played in the food safety arena by the Codex Alimentarius Commission - jointly run by FAO and the WHO - and by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

FAO works closely with member states to enhance capacity to comply with international requirements and contribute to shaping the rules governing food safety.FAO will co-organise two major international conferences on food safety in 2019 - one in Ethiopia in February, and one in Switzerland in April.

Pulses
The special annual day for pulses, which was promoted by Burkina Faso, builds on the successful International Year of Pulses that FAO led in 2016.

Pulse crops, such as lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas, have multiple virtues, being strong sources of plant-based proteins and amino acids for human diets and offering invaluable ecosystem services, thanks to their ability - when grown as cover crops or explicitly for food - to fix atmospheric nitrogen in soils.

On an average, cereals grown after pulses yield 1.5 tonne more per hectare than those not preceded by pulses, which is equal to the effect of 100kg of nitrogen fertiliser.

The General Assembly also emphasised that pulse crops can play a powerful role in improving gender equity, noting they are frequently cultivated by women and also noting their high iron content that contributes significantly to the health of women of reproductive age.

Pulses are also important sources of B-vitamins, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and offer a higher-fibre, lower-calorie dietary option than cereals.