Food and Agriculture Organization Essay

* FAO emblem with its Latin motto, Fiat Panis (â€Å"Let there be bread†) * Organization type – Specialized Agency * Head – Josà © Graziano da Silva (current) * Established – 16 October 1945 in Quebec City, Canada * Headquarters – Rome, Italy * Parent organization – ECOSOC (The world’s economic, social and environmental challenges are ECOSOC’s concern. A founding UN Charter body established in 1946, the Council is the place where such issues are discussed and debated, and policy recommendations issued.) * Members – 191 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. * Website – www.fao.org 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. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. It is also a source of knowledge and information, and helps developing countries and countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fishery practices, ensuring good nutrition and food security for all. FAO’s Goal Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), specialized United Nations agency whose main goal is to eliminate hunger on a world scale. The organization’s mandate is to: * raise levels of nutrition * improve agricultural productivity * better the lives of rural populations * contribute to the growth of the world economy History of FAO * 1943 Representatives from forty-four governments gathered at the Homestead Hotel, Hot Springs, Virginia (United States), from May 18 to June 3, commit themselves to founding a permanent organization for food and agriculture. * 1945 First session of FAO Conference, Quebec City, Canada, establishes FAO as a specialized United Nations agency. * 1962 The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission established to set international food standards becomes operational. * 1976 FAO’s Technical Cooperation Program established to afford greater flexibility in responding to urgent situations. * 1981 The first World Food Day observed on 16 October by more than 150 countries. * 1986 AGROSTAT (now FAOSTAT), the world’s most comprehensive source of agricultural information and statistics, becomes operational. * 1994 * Special Program for Food Security (SPFS)   * Emergency Prevention System for Trans boundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES) * 1996 FAO hosts 186 Heads of State or Government and other high officials at World Food Summit in November to discuss and combat world hunger. * 1997 FAO launches campaign against hunger initiative TeleFood. TeleFood ’97 reaches a global audience of 500 million. * 2006 FAO unveils its high-tech Crisis Management Centre to fight bird flu and other animal health or food safety emergencies. The service monitors disease outbreaks and dispatches experts to any hot spot in the world in less than 48 hours. Representatives of 96 FAO member countries at the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, in Brazil, make a joint declaration recognizing the role of agrarian reform and rural development for sustainable development. * 2008 FAO holds a high-level conference on 3–5 June on the impact of climate change and the bio fuel boom on food security and food prices. Attended by 43 heads of state and 100 government ministers, the conference adopted a resolution to increase assistance and investment in developing world agriculture. * 2009 As the number of hungry reached 1.02 billion, FAO holds a World Summit on Food Security on 16-18 November to inject new urgency into the fight against hunger. Sixty heads of state and government and 192 ministers unanimously adopt a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the Earth at the earliest date * 2011 In a historic victory of veterinary science, FAO and OIE announced that thanks to a decades-long international cooperative effort, the fatal cattle disease known as rinderpest had successfully been eradicated in the wild. In July, FAO declared a state of famine in two regions of Somalia and appealed for US$120 million for response to the drought across the Horn of Africa. FAO Member countries elected Josà © Graziano da Silva of Brazil as Director-General, to take office in January 2012. Structure and Finance 1. Members – An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 191 Member Nations as of 2008, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. 2. Governance – Representatives of members meet at the biennial FAO Conference to review global governance policy issues and international frameworks, as well as to evaluate work carried out and to approve the budget for the next biennium. The Conference elects Council Members, to serve three-year rotating terms to carry out executive oversight of program and budgetary activities. The Conference also elects a Director-General to a four year term of office, renewable once. The current Director-General, Josà © Graziano da Silva, assumed his functions on 1 January 2012 for a term which expires on 31 July 2015. 3. Departments FAO is composed of eight departments: Administration and Finance, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Economic and Social Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, Knowledge and Communication, Natural Resource Management and Technical Cooperation. 4. Offices Besides its headquarters in Rome, FAO is present in over 130 countries. The decentralized network includes five regional offices, 11 sub regional offices, two multidisciplinary teams, 74 fully fledged country offices (excluding those hosted in regional and sub regional offices), eight offices with technical officers/FAO Representatives, and 36 countries covered through multiple accreditation. In addition, the Organization maintains five liaison offices and four information offices in developed countries. 5. Programs and projects In 2010, FAO implemented programs and projects with a total value of US$903 million. About four percent are funded by assessed contributions through the FAO Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) and the Special Program for Food Security (SPFS). The remaining 96 percent are funded from voluntary contributions, through the Government Cooperative Program (44 percent), Unilateral Trust Fund (UTF) (six percent), and other forms of Trust Funds (46 percent) that include UN Joint Programs. * Right to Food Guidelines * Response to food crisis * FAO–EU partnership * Food security programs * Emergency response * Early warning of food emergencies * Integrated pest management * Trans boundary pests and diseases * International Plant Protection Convention * Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building * Codex Alimentarius 6. Funding and expenditure FAO’s overall program of work is funded by assessed and voluntary contributions. The assessed contributions are member countries’ contributions, set at the biennial FAO Conference. The FAO regular budget for the 2010-2011 bienniums is US$1 billion. The voluntary contributions provided by members and other partners support technical and emergency (including rehabilitation) assistance to governments, as well as direct support to FAO’s core work. The voluntary contributions are expected to exceed US$1.2 billion in 2010-11. Budget FAO’s Regular Program 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 Program, knowledge exchange, policy and advocacy, direction and administration, governance and security. This overall budget covers core technical work, cooperation and partnerships, leading to Food and Agriculture Outcomes by 71%; Core Functions by 11%; the Country Office Network by 5%; Capital and Security Expenditure by 2%; Administration by 6%; and Technical and Cooperation Program by 5%. FAO’s activities comprise four main areas: * Putting information within reach. FAO serves as a knowledge network. We use the expertise of our staff – agronomists, foresters, fisheries and livestock specialists, nutritionists, social scientists, economists, statisticians and other professionals – to collect, analyze and disseminate data that aid development. A million times a month, someone visits the FAO Internet site to consult a technical document or read about our work with farmers. We also publish hundreds of newsletters, reports and books, distribute several magazines, create numerous CD-ROMS and host dozens of electronic forum. * Sharing policy expertise. FAO lends its years of experience to member countries in devising agricultural policy, supporting planning, drafting effective legislation and creating national strategies to achieve rural development and hunger alleviation goals. * Providing a meeting place for nations. On any given day, dozens of policy-makers and experts from around the globe convene at headquarters or in our field offices to forge agreements on major food and agriculture issues. As a neutral forum, FAO provides the setting where rich and poor nations can come together to build common understanding. * Bringing knowledge to the field. Our breadth of knowledge is put to the test in thousands of field projects throughout the world. FAO mobilizes and manages millions of dollars provided by industrialized countries, development banks and other sources to make sure the projects achieve their goals. FAO provides the technical know-how and in a few cases is a limited source of funds. In crisis situations, we work side-by-side with the World Food Program and other humanitarian agencies to protect rural livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives.