World Potato Congress Inc. - Announcing the Resolution on the International Day of Potato by the United Nations

The World Potato Congress Inc. has announced that the resolution on the International Day of the Potato has been adopted by consensus of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week.

It has been a passionate endeavor by the World Potato Congress Board of Directors and International Advisors. This initiative was seen through to fruition with great effort by WPC Director André Devaux and Romain Cools (previous WPC President), who have interacted and coordinated over the last few years on behalf of WPC with FAO, and the Ministries of Agriculture (MIDAGRI), and Foreign Affairs of Peru. The first event will be held May 30, 2024 and will be an annual celebration on this date.

The potato plays a fundamental role for global food security and nutrition, as well as for income generation, and the need for small-scale farmers and value chain actors to have sustainable practices to ensure environmental protection and social equity.

It is important to note that, since June 2022, through its Diplomatic Missions abroad, Peru began the actions, presenting within the framework of the 11th World Potato Congress (Dublin - Ireland), the proposal for the establishment of an International Potato Day. Subsequently, between July 2022 and 2023, this initiative was managed in Rome - Italy, within the framework of the various bodies of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to finally be approved by consensus in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
 
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today welcomed the UN's decision to designate 30 May as International Day of Potato, an opportunity to raise awareness of a crop regularly consumed by billions of people and of global importance for food security and nutrition.

The annual observance was championed by Peru, which submitted a proposal for adoption to the UN General Assembly based on an FAO Conference Resolution of July 7, 2023. The impetus for the Day, which builds upon the International Year of Potato that was observed in 2008, originates from the need to emphasize the significant role of the potato in tackling prevalent global issues, such as food insecurity, poverty and environmental threats.

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of FAO:
 

"This International Day will shed light on the significant value of the potato – nutritional, economic, environmental and cultural. It will also highlight the contribution of the potato to global food security, poverty reduction and the livelihoods of millions, while emphasizing the key role of Indigenous Peoples knowledge and practices."

Víctor García Toma, Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations:
 

"The Day allowed us to draw attention to the importance of this ancestral crop in sustaining efforts to reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty; as well as to encourage agricultural development, food security, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functions. This is an exciting initiative as we head into the next World Potato Congress event in Adelaide, Australia."