FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)

1. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO) Lecturer: Erika Chávez e-mail: kekis83@hotmail.com

2. What is FAO? Founded in 1945 the FAO is the lead specialized agency in the UN System for: • Agriculture • Forestry and Fisheries • Nutrition and Food Security * Especial Attention to: Developing rural areas (70% world's poor and hungry people)

3. What is FAO? • The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN leads international efforts to defeat hunger Developed • Serving both Developing countries

4. What is FAO? • FAO acts as a neutral forum where • All nations meet as equals • Negotiate agreements • Debate policy. • FAO is also a source of knowledge and information • Especial focus on Developing Rural Areas (70% of world’s poor and hungry)

5. FAO’s Mandate is to: • Raise Levels of Nutrition Achieving Food Security for all (To make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives) • Better the Condition of Rural Populations • Improve Agriculture Productivity

6. FAO’s Activities FAO’s activities comprise 4 main areas • Putting Information within reach. Serves as a Knowledge network: FAO internet site: Technical document, newsletters, reports, for a 2. Sharing Policy Expertise. to collect, analyze and DATA disseminate that Aid Develop. It uses Staff’s expertise *Agricultural policy *Supporting planning *Creating nat. strateg. To member countries in devising: It lends its experience

7. FAO’s Activities • Providing a Meeting Place for Nations: Serves as a Neutral Forum • Bringing Knowledge to the Field • Where: • Rich • Poor • Nations Come together to build: Common Understanding It provides the Setting It provides the Technical Assistance (Know-How) To the Field Projects to make sure they achieve their goals

8. A Short History of FAO • The foundation of FAO on the 16 October 1945 took place as result of 3 major steps: • 1943: 44 representatives of gov. met in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA. • World’s Problems of food and agriculture. • Commitment to founding a permanent organization. • The establishment was entrusted to the Interim Commission on Food and Agriculture. • Its task: to draw up a Constitution • 1945: 1st Session of the FAO Conference in Quebec, Canada. • Formal foundation of FAO. The Constitution signed by 34 nations • 1951: FAO headquarters were moved to Rome,Italy

9. Structure • FAO is governed by the Conference of Member Nations.(It meets every 2 years) • The Conference elects a Council (49 member nations). • It acts as an interim governing body • The Conference also elects the Director General Dr. Jacques Diouf FAO Headquarters Organizational Structure (as of 1 January 2006)

10. FAO’s Departments • FAO is composed of 8 departments: • Agriculture and Consumer Protection • Economic and Social Development • Fisheries and Aquaculture • Forestry • Human, Financial and Physical Resources • Knowledge and Communication • Natural Resources Management and Environment • Technical Cooperation

11. FAO’s Departments • AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION DEPARTMENTAnimal Production and Health DivisionJoint FAO/IAEA DivisionNutrition and Consumer Protection DivisionPlant Production and Protection DivisionRural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division • ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTAgricultural Development Economics DivisionStatistics DivisionTrade and Markets DivisionGender, Equity and Rural Employment Division • FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE DEPARTMENTFisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Policy DivisionFish Products and Industry DivisionFisheries and Aquaculture Management Division • FORESTRY DEPARTMENTForest Economics and Policy DivisionForest Products and Industry DivisionForest Management Division

12. FAO’s Departments • KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENTConference, Council and Protocol Affairs DivisionKnowledge Exchange and Capacity Building DivisionCommunication DivisionInformation Systems and Technology Division • NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENTEnvironment, Climate Change and Bioenergy DivisionLand and Water DivisionResearch and Extension Division • TECHNICAL COOPERATION DEPARTMENTPolicy Assistance and Resources Mobilization DivisionEmergency Operations and Rehabilitation DivisionInvestment Centre DivisionField Operations DivisionTechnical Cooperation Programme • DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN, FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES Finance DivisionHuman Resources Management DivisionAdministrative Services Division

13. How is FAO funded? • The total FAO budget planned for 2008-2009 is roughly US$ 1.8 billion. • Of this amount, about half comes from regular assessed contributions paid by members countries • While the remainder comes from • voluntary contributions from: • Countries • Agencies • Other partners Source: FAO, 2009

14. How Does FAO allocate its Resources? • FAO’s Regular Programmebudget is funded by its members, through contributions set at the FAO Conference. • The FAO budget for the biennium 2008-2009 is US$929.8 million. • The budget covers: • Core technical work • Cooperation and partnerships (Including the Technical Cooperation Programme) • Information and general policy • Direction and administration.

15. FAO’s Organization Improvements and Decentralization • Since 1994, FAO has undergone the most significant restructuring since its founding to decentralize operations, streamline procedures and reduce costs. Highlights of the reforms include: The Transfer of Staff from Headquarters to the Field Increased use of experts from developing countries and countries in transition Broadened links with: * Private sector * NGOs Greater electronic access to FAO statistical database and documents

16. FAO’s Organization Improvements and Decentralization • FAO employs more than 3 600 staff members (about 1600 professional and 2 000 general service staff) • It currently maintains : • 5 Regional offices, • 9 Sub-regional offices • 5 liaison offices • 74 fully-fledged country offices • In addition to its headquarters in Rome. 

17. FAO Desentralized Offices Structure

18. Regional Offices • Its principal function is the overall identification, planning and implementation of FAO’s priority activities in the Region. • They ensure a multi disciplinary approach to programmes • They identify priority areas of action for FAO in the Region • They also: • Implement approved programmes in the Region • Monitor the level of programme implementation • Draw attention to any problems and deficiencies.

19. Sub-Regional Offices • They are part of the Regional Office and work closely with them. • They are primarily responsible for the overall planning of FAO activities in the Sub-Region • They ensure a multi disciplinary approach to programmes (with the guidance and support of the R.O.) • They also: • Implement approved programmes in the Sub-Region • Monitor the level of programme implementation • Draw attention to any problems and deficiencies.

20. Country Offices • FAO is currently present in the countries through its Representations. • Its main aim is to assist governments to: • Develop: policies, programmes, projects to address the root causes of hunger & malnutrition. • Develop their agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors • Use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable way.

21. Liason Offices • They have been established where many: • UN System organizations • International • Intergovernmental • Non-governmental Associations or organizations are working • They maintain relations with Members & external development partners operating in these locations • They monitor developments affecting nutrition, food and agriculture • They Represent FAO at meetings which address matters that fall within FAO’s mandate.

22. FAO’s Programmes and Achievements • CodexAlimentarius • Technical Cooperation Programme • FAO Statistics • Integrated Pest Management • Food Security Programmes (SPFS) • Telefood • Goodwill Ambassadors Programme • International Alliance Against Hunger • The Right to Food • World Summit on Food Security

23. FAO’s Programmes & Achievements • Codex Alimentarius: (FAO-WHO) • Also called Food Code • Develop food standards, guidelines and texts such as codes of practice. • Aim: contribution to the protection of public health and fair practices in the food trade. • The Technical Cooperation Programme • Small projects • Specific problems in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. • The aim is to produce tangible and immediate results

24. FAO’s Programmes & Achievements • FAO Statistics • FAOSTAT is an on-line multilingual database • It contains over: • 3 million time-series records • from over 210 countries and territories • Covering statistics on: • Agriculture, nutrition • Fisheries, forestry • Food aid, land use and • Population. • The Statistical Division also produces data on World Agricultural Trade Flows.

25. FAO’s Programmes & Achievements • Food Security Programmes • FAO's flagship initiative for reaching the goal of halving the number of hungry in the world by 2015. • It promotes national ownership and local empowerment in the countries in which it operates. • Telefood • Is a campaign of concerts, sporting events and other activities to harness the power of media, celebrities and concerned citizens to help fight hunger • Money raised through TeleFood pays for small, sustainable projects that help small-scale farmers produce more food for their families and communities

26. FAO’s Programmes & Achievements • Goodwill Ambassadors Programme • The main purpose of the programme is to attract public and media attention to end world hunger • Using the talents and influence of a number of celebrities

27. FAO’s Programmes & Achievements • International Alliance Against Hunger • 2002 World Food Summit: Call for the creation of IAAH • 2003 Launched on World Food Day the IAAH works to generate political will and concrete actions through partnerships between intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and national alliances • Mission: Join forces in efforts to eradicate hunger • World Summit on Food Security • The World Summit on Food Securitywill take place in Rome, Italy, between 16 and 18 November 2009. • Heads of State and Government are expected to attend the summit

28. Field Projects FAO has bout 2050 field projects with a total value of 768 million US$. • FAO field projects have 2 main funding sources: • The Organization's core budget (Regular Programme) • Extra-budgetary resources received from multilateral (e.g. mainly UNDP and other UN funds)and bilateral donors. • 6% are funded by the Regular Programme (TCP-SPFS) • 94%are funded from extra budgetary resources.

29. Partners • In a world where some 963 million people are chronically deprived of adequate food, no single individual, organization or sector can solve the problem. • Only by sharing knowledge, pooling resources and working together will humanity bring an end to hunger.

30. Partners • FAO works in partnership with institutions of all kinds: • Private foundations, • Grassroots organizations, • Companies, • Professional associations, • United Nations agencies (WFP, IFAD) • National governments • Some partnerships operate at national level or in the field, others are regional or global.