Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez announced at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) World Food Forum that the government would soon submit to parliament a bill on developing the local, community-based and entrepreneurial economy. The document is intended to bring together small producers, cooperatives and large-scale agribusiness to strengthen the national “Venezuela Feeds” program, whose main goal is to eliminate hunger.
Rodríguez stressed that access to food is an inalienable human right and must not be used as a tool of political pressure or international confrontation. She also pointed to a global contradiction: despite humanity’s unprecedented scientific and productive capabilities, millions of people are going hungry, while a significant share of food is lost or discarded. According to her, two hunger hotspots emerged simultaneously in 2025—in the Gaza Strip and in certain regions of Sudan.
Speaking about the situation in Venezuela, the president said that food and nutritional indicators had recovered after deteriorating following the political crisis and international sanctions imposed since 2017. According to FAO data she cited, the rate of undernourishment fell to 5.3% in 2025 and to approximately 3% in the current year, while acute malnutrition among children under five declined from 14.8% in 2019 to 1.3% in 2025. The share of children who were exclusively breastfed reached 73.7%. Rodríguez thanked the FAO and the World Food Programme for their technical support and said that guarantees of land rights and technological innovation formed the basis for a new stage of agricultural development in the country.
Full version: Delcy Rodríguez announces from the FAO