International cooperation, risk monitoring and preventive action are vital to cutting the risk of disasters, eradicating poverty and hunger and making agriculture more resilient, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
"When it comes to reducing disaster risks, there is no simpler way to put it: international cooperation, risk governance & #AnticipatoryAction are KEY," FAO chief Qu Dongyu tweeted on Wednesday.
"Ending poverty & hunger & making our agri-#FoodSystems more resilient to disasters is only possible if we work together. #DRRDay," the tweet added.
Wednesday is International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
After decades of decline, the number of people facing hunger has started rising again. Today there are 155 million people who are suffering from acute hunger and whose lives and livelihoods are at risk because they lack food.
A further 41 million people risk famine or famine-like conditions, and the COVID-19 pandemic has added to existing threats such as pests, plagues, conflict and climate change, compounding the global food crisis.
But advances in technology and data collection have vastly increased experts’ ability to analyse risks and anticipate many disasters, making the shift from reacting to disasters to preventing these essential, according to FAO.
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