World Food Day

Around the world, 645 million people face hunger, with millions of children lacking the nutritious food they need to grow up healthy and thrive.

Hungry families do desperate things to survive, often making children more vulnerable to challenges such as child marriage, child labour, child soldier recruitment and missing out on an education. These exploitative experiences have devastating effects on girls and boys.

World Vision supports this important day which raises awareness of hunger and promotes a more sustainable future of food. Learn more about how we're helping children access nutritious food and how you can get involved.

What is World Food Day?

World Food Day is a global initiative observed annually.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation founded International Food Day in 1979, and today, it's celebrated annually across 150 countries. As one of the most high-profile days in the United Nations calendar, a wealth of events take place at all levels every year to mark the day.

^{Sources: UN and WFP data, Hunger, Food insecurity, Conflict}

When is World Food Day?

World Food Day 2026 is on 16 October.

October 16 was designated for a significant reason: It's the date that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation was originally founded in 1945. Since then, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (or FAO, as it is often referred to) has been leading global efforts to end world hunger, improve food security and improve global nutrition.

What is this year’s World Food Day theme?

The theme for World Food Day 2026 is 'Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow'. 

This emphasises how forward-thinking solutions, combined with traditional knowledge and inclusive approaches, can help ensure that everyone has access to sufficient, diverse, safe, and nutritious foods, while safeguarding the planet for future generations.

Every year since 1981, a theme as been highlighted to concentrate efforts and provide a common focus for National Food Day activities. In 2023, the theme focused on the impact water has on global food production: "Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind." 

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How World Vision is helping hungry children

For 75 years, we have worked globally to provide food assistance in hunger hotspots. Our work helps to ensure that children living in poverty are able to enjoy healthy diets and are free from food insecurity. In addition to delivering nutritious food to those in vulnerable communities, we work with communities to help them learn sustainable farming efforts and create long-term change. 

Children like Aimé, from Burundi

Aimé's mother left when he was only three months old, following a dispute with her husband. Soon after, his father passed Aimé around family members until he landed in the care of his grandmother, Melanie. 

Aimé started losing weight and recurrently getting sick due to a lack of breast milk. In a mass screening carried out in their village, he was diagnosed with acute malnutrition, weighing 2.4kg at 10-months-old. Melanie was advised to take Aimé to World Vision to seek support. They were greeted with compassion by Violette, a World Vision staff member who provided powdered milk and helped Melanie learn how to grow vegetables.

Now, Aimé is a healthy three-year-old who is full of energy, and Melanie is grateful to World Vision for helping him recover and teaching her about growing nutritious food.

Together, we can end child hunger

No child should have to go hungry. Yet around the world, millions of children are growing up without enough nutritious food, putting their health, education and future at risk.

When you sponsor a child, you're helping to tackle the root causes of hunger. Your support helps communities improve food security, access clean water, grow nutritious crops, strengthen healthcare and create brighter futures for children and their families.

Sponsor a child today and help build a future free from hunger.