FAO: healthy and nutritious quality foods are vital for food security

At World Nutrition Day 2026, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Qu Dongyu, emphasised that food security was not a problem of food production alone but a combination of food availability, food accessibility and food affordability, as well as the quality of food. Qu addressed the high-level event “Delivering as One for Coherent Nutrition Action” during the Rome Nutrition Week 2026, which took place from the 25^th–28^th May at the FAO headquarters in Rome/Italy. “We must produce sufficient, diverse, and safe food, but food availability is not just about calories – it is about the quality of what we grow,” he said.

Under the overarching theme “Shaping the Future of Joint Nutrition Action in a Changing World”, the 2026 edition of Rome Nutrition Week focuses on strengthening joint approaches, enhancing coordination and identifying practical pathways to accelerate nutrition progress in a rapidly evolving global context. 

The “Four Levels of Food” framework

Referring to the “Four Levels of Food” framework, Qu outlined a pathway from basic staples that prevent hunger, to nutritious foods that provide essential vitamins and minerals, healthy diets that reduce disease risks and functional foods with scientifically proven benefits beyond basic nutrition, such as fermented products or bio-fortified crops. He affirmed that “FAO is working with countries to reshape agrifood systems, so that they deliver not just basic staples, but nutritious, healthy and functional foods”. This involves diversifying production, reducing post-harvest losses and protecting biodiversity to ensure food diversity on our plates.

Regarding food accessibility, Qu highlighted the need for targeted interventions for vulnerable populations: “For rural communities, indigenous peoples, and women-headed households, we need targeted interventions such as school feeding programmes, local food procurement and support for smallholder farmers to connect to markets.”

On the issue of food affordability, the FAO Director-General noted: “Today, healthy diets are simply too expensive for billions of people; with the cost of a nutritious diet exceeding average incomes in many low-income countries.” Qu highlighted that 2.6 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. He stressed that “we cannot solve this by production alone – we need social protection, income support, and policies that lower the price of fruits, vegetables and proteins”.

Delivering as One

Qu emphasised that the “Four Levels of Food” provided a crucial roadmap for enhancing food security. However, he noted that implementation required systemic coherence. “That is why ‘Delivering as One’ is so critical,” he stated. No single agency can fix food affordability, and no single ministry can ensure accessibility. “We need inter-institutional, cross-government, and effective collaboration with all stakeholders,” Qu added, stating that FAO is working with all partners to achieve the following objectives:

• align agrifood policies with nutrition outcomes,
• strengthen food environment monitoring, and
• promote biofortification and functional food innovations.

“On this World Nutrition Day, let us move beyond fragmented efforts and commit to working together in an efficient, effective, and coherent manner to ensure that basic, nutritious, healthy and functional foods reach those who need them most,” the Director-General concluded.

Later this year, FAO will publish its first High-Level Report on the State of Healthy Diets, aimed at strengthening the global evidence base for nutrition policy-making and supporting countries in designing more effective responses to malnutrition.

(FAO/wi)

More information on the UN World Nutrition Week