Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Ariel Cayanan, Undersecretary for Special Concerns and Chairman for National Steering Committee for the 2017 World Food Day Celebration Atty. Ranibai Dilangalen, and Undersecretary for Agribusiness and Marketing, and Regional Engagement Bernadette Romulo-Puyat together with Food and Agriculture Representative to the Philippines Jose Luis Fernandez formally open the World Food Day Celebration at the Department of Agriculture lobby in Quezon City. The yearly event highlights the pursuit of FAO and some 150 nations cross the globe towards food security and zero percent hunger by 2030. In his message, Cayanan said that the current directions and programs of DA is geared towards sufficiency and accessibility of every Filipino to basic food items. Cayanan added that the vast rural lands can be used as expansion areas for food production. Dilangalen in her welcome remarks encouraged the DA employees to take actions in creating the awareness encourage people’s participation towards food security and rural development. For the part of the FAO, Fernandez reaffirms organizations’ support to DA in addressing food security and underscored that increasing farm production, productivity, business skills and improving linkages are keys to the achievement of a stable and secured food system. (Photo by Gian Carlo Luague/DA-AFID)