Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn stressed the need for collaboration across borders, sectors, and communities to achieve food security, sustainability, and resilience, at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the 2025 regional observance of World Food Day on Oct 16.
The princess — who also serves as the FAO Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific — highlighted how more than half of the world’s undernourished population lives in Asia, where many still face hunger and lack access to nutritious food.
Smallholder farmers continue to struggle with limited resources, while communities remain vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
She noted that climate change has worsened natural disasters, destroyed harvests, and displaced countless people, while water scarcity and unsustainable practices have further degraded agricultural lands.
These burdens, she said, fall hardest on smallholder farmers who lack the support they need.
“Hand-in-hand means governments working together to craft policies that protect the vulnerable and promote sustainable farming; businesses partnering with farmers to strengthen supply chains, reduce food loss and waste, and ensure fair prices; and researchers sharing innovations so that even remote farmers can benefit from climate-smart agriculture,” she said.
“We must develop agri-food systems that are resilient to climate change, inclusive of all people, and able to provide every individual with safe, affordable, and diverse nutrition. At the same time, we must safeguard biodiversity and natural resources to ensure that future generations inherit a healthier, more sustainable planet,” she said.
“As FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador, I am committed to this cause,” she continued. “But true progress depends on all of us — governments, international organisations, farmers, businesses, and communities — joining hands to strengthen and transform our agri-food systems into engines of health, prosperity, and sustainability.”
Dr Alue Dohong, FAO assistant director-general and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, added that 2.6 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, facing the triple burden of hunger, malnutrition, and obesity.
Yet, he said, innovation and partnership offer hope for “better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all”.
He also expressed deep gratitude for the princess’s enduring support.