United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is an international agency established in 1945, primarily aimed at addressing global challenges related to food security and agricultural development. Its creation was inspired by the need to tackle food shortages exacerbated by World War II, leading to its founding conference in Quebec City, Canada. Initially headquartered in Washington, D.C., the FAO moved its headquarters to Rome, Italy, in 1951.
Over the years, the FAO has expanded its focus to support developing countries, launching initiatives like the Freedom from Hunger campaign in the early 1960s, which sought to raise awareness and mobilize support against hunger and malnutrition. The FAO also collaborated with the United Nations to establish the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute surplus food to those in need. Additionally, the organization has developed various databases, such as FAOSTAT, to provide comprehensive agricultural statistics and launched programs like EMPRES to prevent agricultural diseases. In 2001, the FAO adopted an international treaty to promote sustainable agriculture by sharing plant genetic resources, further solidifying its role in fostering global food security and agricultural sustainability.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- DATE: Established 1945
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that spearheads international efforts against hunger. The FAO serves as an informational network, shares policy expertise among member nations, provides a neutral forum for negotiations, and oversees field projects that help developing countries modernize and improve agriculture, forestry, and fishery practices.
Background
In 1943, at the behest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, representatives from forty-four governments met in Hot Springs, Virginia, to discuss the formation of a permanent international organization to deal with world problems of food and agriculture. World War II not only had disrupted trade in agricultural products and damaged agriculturally productive areas but also had diverted fertilizer, pesticide, and farm-machinery factories to wartime uses or destroyed them outright. The Hot Springs meeting led to the First Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization Conference, held in Quebec City, Canada, in the fall of 1945. During the conference, on October 16, 1945—six weeks after the formal surrender of Japan and eight days before the UN charter entered into force—the FAO was established in Washington, DC. In 1951, the organization moved its headquarters to Rome, Italy.
Impact on Resource Use
In its early years, the FAO focused on addressing postwar food shortages. It also collected and published food-related statistics and supplied its members with technical assistance, such as literature, seeds, equipment, and localized training facilities. In the early 1960s, as an influx of newly independent nations changed the face of the FAO, the organization channeled a greater portion of its financial resources into field programs that benefited developing countries.
In 1960, the FAO launched its Freedom from Hunger campaign, which sought to raise awareness of world hunger and malnutrition. The campaign was an unprecedented mobilization of UN agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, other groups, private industry, and individuals to respond to the problem of hunger on a nation-by-nation basis.
In 1961, the FAO teamed with the United Nations to establish the World Food Programme (WFP) for distributing surplus food to needy populations. Although the WFP was not scheduled to begin operations until early 1963, food crises brought on by an earthquake in Iran, a hurricane in Thailand, and a deluge of refugees returning to a newly independent Algeria spurred the fledgling program to provide its first food assistance in the fall of 1962.
In 1986, the FAO launched AGROSTAT, a comprehensive source of international agricultural statistics. Afterward, AGROSTAT evolved into FAOSTAT, a multilingual computer database that includes statistical information on agricultural resources, forestry, fisheries, food prices, food consumption, agricultural production, and trade.
In 1994, FAO established its Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases. EMPRES was created to contain highly contagious animal diseases and agricultural pests at an early stage, before widespread losses could result.
The FAO Conference of 2001 adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, an agreement supporting sustainable agriculture through the equitable sharing of plant genetic material among farmers, plant breeders, and research institutions. The treaty entered into force in 2004.
Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the FAO continued to address worldwide food shortages. Additionally, it worked towards the reduction of rural poverty and encouraged world governments to invest in sustainable development.
Bibliography
"About FAO." United Nations, 2024, www.fao.org/about/about-fao/en/. Accessed 29 Dec. 2024.
"Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)." IISD, enb.iisd.org/organisations/food-and-agriculture-organization-un-fao. Accessed 29 Dec. 2024.