International Year of the Potato
The
potato (Solanum tuberosum) originated some 8000 years ago in the Andes of South
America. It was appropriate, therefore, that the initial impetus for declaring
2008 as the International Year of the Potato came from the Government of Peru.
At the biennial Conference of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in November 2005, the Permanent
Representative of
The Sixtieth Session of the General Assembly accepted
the resolution in December 2005, and invited FAO to facilitate the
implementation of IYP 2008. The resolution noted that the potato is a staple
food in the diet of the world's population and affirmed the role that the
potato could play in achieving internationally agreed development objectives,
including the Millennium Development Goals.
The
International Year of the Potato has raised awareness of the potato’s fundamental
importance as a staple food of humanity. But it also had a very practical aim:
to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that enhance the
well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato's full
potential as a "food of the future".
Over the next two decades, the world's
population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a
year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing
countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key challenge
facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for
present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on
which we all depend. The potato will be an important part of efforts to meet
those challenges.
Links
The official website for the IYP 2008.
All the International Years proclaimed by the General Assembly.
Stamp catalogue
Netherlands Antilles
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