World Food Program (WFP) summons an anti-hunger demonstration in Nicaragua to bring greater attention to the issue in this Latin nation.
Held in the northeastern city of Matagalpa Sunday, the demonstration was attended by senior government officials including ministers of agriculture, education, health and foreign affairs, local media reported, according to Xinhua.
More than 1,000 children from Matagalpa, one of the departments hardest hit by hunger and high rates of chronic bad nutrition, also participated in the march.
Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo vowed to push forward the program “Zero Hunger,” a government-sponsored program which aims at aiding close to 75,000 poor families to overcome poverty by providing livestock like pigs or production subsidies.
The World Food Program (WFP) initiated more anti-hunger demonstrations in 70 other cities around the world.
Expressing support for the rally, president of the WFP’s Nicaragua branch William Hart said that it could help the country on its way to eliminate hunger.
WFP Nicaragua is helping feed more than half million people in the country, including 400,000 elementary school students in Matagalpa.
About 6 million children die each year from bad nutrition in the world, while 840 million people are struggling with hunger, according to the WFP.
