World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted a different theme each year in order to highlight areas needed for action and provide a common focus.

In spite of the importance of agriculture as the driving force in the economies of many developing countries, this vital sector is frequently starved of investment. In particular, foreign aid to agriculture has shown marked declines over the past 20 years.

    1981: Food comes first
    1982: Food comes first
    1983: Food security
    1984: Women in agriculture
    1985: Rural poverty
    1986: Fishermen and fishing communities
    1987: Small farmers
    1988: Rural youth
    1989: Food and the environment
    1990: Food for the future
    1991: Trees for life
    1992: Food and nutrition
    1993: Harvesting nature's diversity
    1994: Water for life
    1995: Food for all
    1996: Fighting hunger and malnutrition
    1997: Investing in food security
    1998: Women feed the world
    1999: Youth against hunger
    2000: A millennium free from hunger
    2001: Fight hunger to reduce poverty
    2002: Water: source of food security
    2003: Working together for an international alliance against hunger
    2004: Biodiversity for food security
    2005: Agriculture and intercultural dialogue
    2006: Investing in agriculture for food security
    2007: The right to food
    2008: World food security: the challenges of climate change and bioenergy
    2009: Achieving food security in times of crisis
    2010: United against hunger
    2011: Food prices - from crisis to stability
    2012: Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world
    2013: Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition
    2014: Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth”

This year, the theme of the World Food Day is "Social Protection and Agriculture:Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty," which aims to sensitize the people about eradicating rural poverty and ensuring food protection for all.