The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates to "let there be bread". It was founded on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City, Canada.
The FAO comprises 194 members, including 193 countries and one member organization, the European Union (EU). Its headquarters is in Rome, Italy, and it maintains regional and field offices worldwide, operating in over 130 countries. It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources. It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects agricultural output, production, and development data.
The FAO is governed by a biennial conference representing each member country and the EU, which elects a 49-member executive council. As of 2019, the director-general is Qu Dongyu of China, who serves as the chief administrative officer. Various committees govern matters such as finance, programs, agriculture, and fisheries.
History The idea of an international organization for food and agriculture emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, advanced primarily by Polish-born American agriculturalist and activist David Lubin. In May–June 1905, an international conference was held in Rome, Italy, which led to the creation of the International Institute of Agriculture (IIA) by the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III.
The IIA was the first intergovernmental organization to deal with the problems and challenges of agriculture on a global scale. It worked primarily to collect, compile, and publish data on agriculture, ranging from output statistics to a catalog of crop diseases. Among its achievements was the publication of the first agricultural census in 1930.Estabrook, Leon M. (1936). Life of an American: Memoirs of Leon M. Estabrook. Washington: unpublished manuscript (held in Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, call number 120 Es8 R).
World War II effectively ended the IIA. During the war, in 1943, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt called a League of Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture, which brought representatives from forty-four governments to The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, from 18 May to 3 June to attend the Hot Springs Conference. The main impetus for the conference was the British-born Australian economist Frank L. McDougall, who since 1935 had advocated for an international forum to address hunger and malnutrition.
The Conference ended with a commitment to establish a permanent organization for food and agriculture, which was achieved on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City, Canada, following the Constitution of the Food and Agriculture Organization. The first session of the FAO Conference began the same day in the Château Frontenac in Quebec City and ended on 1 November 1945.FAO: its origins, formation and evolution 1945-1981 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome 1981. This was led by Sir John Boyd Orr where his work on ending world hunger and creation of FAO resulted in him winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949.
After the war, the IIA was officially dissolved by resolution of its Permanent Committee on 27 February 1948. Its functions, facilities, and mandate were then transferred to the newly established FAO, which maintained its headquarters in Rome.
The FAO's initial functions supported agricultural and nutrition research and provided technical assistance to member countries to boost production in agriculture, fishery, and forestry. Beginning in the 1960s, it focused on efforts to develop high-yield strains of grain, eliminate protein deficiency, promote rural employment, and increase agricultural exports. The FAO recognized the decrease of these resources as an urgent problem in 1961 and created a joint collaboration with the International Biological Program (IBP) in 1967. To that end, it joined the UN General Assembly in creating the UN World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.
The FAO launched what would become the FAO Money and Medals Programme (MMP) in 1968. FAO issued collector art medals in various series to bring attention to FAO's goals and missions. This program was responsible for over a hundred medal designs issued to the collecting public. A thirtieth anniversary medal of the MMP was issued in 1998.
In 1974, in response to famine in Africa, the FAO convened the first World Food Summit to address widespread hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity. The meeting resulted in a proclamation that "every man, woman, and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition to develop their physical and mental faculties" and a global commitment to eradicate these issues within a decade. A subsequent summit in 1996 addressed the shortcomings in achieving this goal while establishing a strategic plan for eliminating hunger and malnutrition into the 21st century.
Every year, FAO publishes a number of major 'State of the World' reports related to food, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and natural resources.
Structure and finance
In 1951, the FAO's headquarters were moved from Washington, D.C., United States, to Rome, Italy. The agency is directed by the Conference of Member Nations, which meets every two years to review the work carried out by the organization and to Work and Budget for the next two-year period. The conference elects a council of 49 member states (serve three-year rotating terms) that acts as an interim governing body, and the director-general, who heads the agency.
The FAO is composed of eight departments: Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Economic and Social Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, Corporate Services and Technical Cooperation and Programme Management.
Beginning in 1994, the FAO underwent the most significant restructuring since its founding, to decentralize operations, streamline procedures and reduce costs. As a result, savings of about US$50 million, €43 million a year were realized.
Budget The FAO's Regular Programme budget is funded by its members through contributions set at the FAO Conference. This budget covers core technical work, cooperation and partnerships including the Technical Cooperation Programme, knowledge exchange, policy and advocacy, direction and administration, governance and security.
The total FAO Budget planned for 2018–2019 is US$1,005.6 million. The voluntary contributions provided by members and other partners support mechanical and emergency (including rehabilitation) assistance to governments for clearly defined purposes linked to the results framework, as well as direct support to FAO's core work. The voluntary contributions are expected to reach approximately US$1.6 billion in 2016–2017.
This overall budget covers core technical work, cooperation and partnerships, leading to Food and Agriculture Outcomes at 71 percent; Core Functions at 11 percent; the Country Office Network – 5 percent; Capital and Security Expenditure – 2 percent; Administration – 6 percent; and Technical and Cooperation Program – 5 percent.
Directors-General John Boyd Orr, October 1945 – April 1948 Norris E. Dodd, April 1948 – December 1953 Philip V. Cardon, January 1954 – April 1956 Herbert Broadley, (acting) April 1956 – November 1956 Binay Ranjan Sen, November 1956 – December 1967 Addeke Hendrik Boerma, January 1968 – December 1975 Edouard Saouma, January 1976 – December 1993 Jacques Diouf, January 1994 – December 2011 José Graziano da Silva, January 2012 – July 2019 Qu Dongyu, August 2019 – present
Deputy Directors-General William Nobel Clark: 1948 Sir Herbert Broadley: 1948 – 1958 Friedrich Traugott Wahlen: 1958 – 1959 Norman C. Wright: 1959 – 1963 Oris V. Wells: 1963 – 1971 Roy I. Jackson: 1971 – 1978 Ralph W. Phillips: 1978 – 1981 Edward M. West: 1981 – 1985 Declan J. Walton: 1986 – 1987 Howard Hjort: 1992 – 1997 Vikram J. Shah (ad personam): 1992 – 1995 David A. Harcharik: 1998 – 2007 James G. Butler: 2008 – 2010 He Changchui (Operations): 2009 – 2011 Ann Tutwiler (Knowledge): 2011 – 2012 Manoj Juneja (Operations): 2011 – 2012 Dan Gustafson (Programmes): 2012 – 2020 Maria Helena Semedo: 2013 – 2017 Laurent Thomas: 2017 – 2023 Beth Bechdol: 2020 – present Maurizio Martina: 2023 – present Godfrey Magwenzi: 2024 - present
Offices FAO Headquarters
The world headquarters is located in Rome, in the former seat of the Department of Italian East Africa. One of the most notable features of the building was the Axum Obelisk which stood in front of the agency seat, although just outside the territory allocated to the FAO by the Italian Government. It was taken from Ethiopia by Benito Mussolini's troops in 1937 as war booty and returned on 18 April 2005.
Regional Offices Regional Office for Africa, in Accra, Ghana Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in Bangkok, Thailand Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, in Budapest, Hungary Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Santiago de Chile, Chile Regional Office for the Near East, in Cairo, Egypt
Sub-regional Offices Sub-regional Office for Central Africa (SFC), in Libreville, Gabon Sub-regional Office for Central Asia, in Ankara, Turkey Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (SFE), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sub-regional Office for Mesoamerica (SLM), in Panama City, Panama Sub-regional Office for North Africa, in Tunis, Tunisia Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa and East Africa, in Harare, Zimbabwe Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean, in Bridgetown, Barbados Sub-regional Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council States and Yemen, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Sub-regional Office for the Pacific Islands, in Apia, Samoa
Liaison Offices
Liaison Office for North America, in Washington, D.C., United States Liaison Office with Japan, in Yokohama Liaison Office with the European Union and Belgium, in Brussels Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, in Moscow Liaison Office with the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland Liaison Office with the United Nations, in New York City, United States
Partnership and Liaison Offices Partnership and Liaison Offices provide for stronger country participation in the FAO's work and programmes at national, sub-regional, regional, and inter-regional levels, and enhanced cooperation through unilateral trust fund projects and South–South cooperation. Azerbaijan Cameroon Ivory Coast Equatorial Guinea Kazakhstan Mexico South Korea
Priority work areas FAO has outlined the following priorities in its fight against hunger. Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition – contribute to eradicating hunger by facilitating policies and political commitments to support food security and make sure that up-to-date information about hunger and nutrition challenges and solutions is available and accessible. Make agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and sustainable – promote evidence-based policies and practices to support highly productive agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries) while ensuring that the natural resource base does not suffer in the process. Reduce rural poverty by helping the rural poor gain access to the resources and services they need, including rural employment and social protection. Enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems – helping to build safe and efficient food systems that support smallholder agriculture and reduce poverty and hunger in rural areas.