WORLD FOOD DAY FEED THE NEEDY INITIATIVE
The rising food prices are affecting all of us, however the impacts are felt mostly by the vulnerable in our society; the indigent, underprivileged and differently challenged are no exception.
Today, it is estimated that 3.1 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet. Particularly for us in Antigua and Barbuda, we can empower those left behind by transforming how our food is produced, consumed and distributed. All actors including government agencies, private sector and civil society must work together to increase local food production and strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable households.
This year in recognition of World Food Day 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs (MAFBA), spearheaded by Extension Division held an initiative dubbed “Feed the Needy.”
This initiative included a “Bring A Can and Come” component, where members of staff within MAFBA, supporting agencies, private sector businesses were asked to donate non-perishable food items.
Four (4) institutions in Antigua, namely; Antigua and Barbuda Association for Persons with Disabilities, Fiennes Institute, Adopt- A- Family Foundation, and the Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital were recipients of this initiative.
Notwithstanding the vagaries of climate change which have resulted in the unavailability of water for farming, farmers across Antigua made a substantial donation of approximately 1,000 pounds of produce to the Feed the Needy Initiative which included produce such as; sweet potato, butternut, okra, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, carrot, corn, cassava, sweet potato, leafy greens and herbs and spices, to name a few.
“FAO is committed to giving special attention to the full inclusion of the vulnerable, by ensuring that programs like these targets and affectively reach these special group of people, and mechanism exit to include them in development interventions to enable their full participation as members of society,” states FAO National Correspondent, Ika Fergus.
The organizers of the Feed the Needy Initiative would like to express their sincerest gratitude for the overwhelming support from the farming community towards this worthy cause.
Given the instabilities as it relates to the rising food prices along with farming inputs and climate change, this timely gesture was indeed a testimony to our farmers’ resilience and dedication towards the advancement of the agriculture sector.




