Luiz Fara Monteiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rome (Italy) - "Now I finally have a diploma." It was with this jocose remark that president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received the Agricultural Medal today (17) in Rome. The Medal is the highest distinction bestowed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on outstanding figures in the global war on hunger.

As he presented the award to president Lula, FAO director-general Jacques Diouf, from Senegal, affirmed that the activities put in practice by the Brazilian government to combat hunger have inspired leaders of other nations to rid the world of hunger and poverty. Diouf went on to say that the award is also a way of paying homage to the Brazilian farmers who feed Brazil and the world with their produce.

The ceremony took place at 9 AM (5 AM in Brazil) at FAO headquarters in Rome.

Translation: David Silberstein