In order to bring awareness and highlight the hard work being put into local food production, the island of HDh. Hanimaadhoo is set to carry out an exhibition where local farmers can present their products and crops, set to take place on the 15th of October 2022.
Magazine Agriculture
Local food production plays a vital role in ensuring food security and the health of those living in a country. Especially in a country like the Maldives, which is a mass importer of a variety of food, the development of the agriculture industry has become increasingly important as countries are often left to fend for themselves during a global crisis such as a food shortage that may arise due to several reasons.
While the Maldivian islands were big on agriculture and consumed produce that was locally farmed, however as during the past few decades, Maldivians have come to rely more on imported foods rather than food that is locally sourced.
Even with a lot of the products that we see in stores are mostly imported, some Maldivian islands still thrive in the agriculture industry.
Islands such as Thoddoo, and Kaashidhoo have become infamous among locals as well as tourists to be known as agriculturally diverse islands as they produce a major portion of the fruits and vegetables that are brought into the capital city and sold in the markets. Therefore, while staples such as rice and flour and condiments used to cook the food are usually imported, the key ingredients such as vegetables are still locally sourced from farms in different islands of the Maldives.
In order to celebrate the hard work that local farmers put into feeding an entire country, and encourage the public to develop an interest in the field, the Maldives is set to celebrate national farmers day on the 15th of October 2022, which falls on the perfect date as the World Food Day is celebrated on the very next day, 16th of October 2022.
The theme of this year's food day has been set as ‘mobilize action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks and improve human health' by the United Nations (UN).
In order to bring awareness and highlight the hard work being put into local food production, the island of HDh. Hanimaadhoo is set to carry out an exhibition where local farmers can present their products and crops. Set to take place on the 15th of October, the exhibition is open to all interested parties in light of world food day.
As the tourism industry has developed in local islands of the Maldives in recent years, local farmers have taken it upon themselves to produce Maldivian delicacies using their crops in order to sell them at food stalls as well as retail them at stores.
This gives farmers a bigger opportunity to showcase their hard work and talent in the form of different varieties of crops and creative products produced by using the fruits and vegetables they grow on their own farms.
Earlier this year, the regional agribusiness exhibition that was carried out by the Maldives Agribusiness Program (MAP) in order to connect farmers to potential buyers and suppliers was also hosted in HDh.Hanimaadhoo. Such exhibitions showcase some local cuisines as well as the talent and hard work of the farmers in the Maldives who greatly contribute to the food security in the Maldives.
