Programs and achievements
World Summit on Food Security
The World Summit on Food Security took place in Rome, Italy, between 16 and 18 November 2009. The decision to convene the summit was taken by the FAO Council, at the proposal of Director-General Jacques Diouf. Sixty heads of state and government attended the summit. The countries unanimously adopted a declaration pledging a renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the earth at the earliest possible date.[11].
Response to the food crisis
In December 2007, FAO launched its Food Price Rising Initiative to help smallholders increase their production and earn more. Under this initiative, FAO contributed to the work of the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, which produced the Comprehensive Framework for Action. FAO has carried out projects in more than 25 countries and inter-agency missions in almost 60, expanded monitoring through the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, providing policy advice to governments and support for their efforts to increase food production, and advocated for greater investment in agriculture. It has also worked hand in hand with the European Union. An example of their work is a US$10.2 million scheme to distribute and multiply quality seeds in Haiti,[12] which has significantly increased food production, providing cheaper food and increasing farmers' incomes.
FAO-EU Partnership
In May 2009, FAO and the European Union signed an initial aid package worth €125 million to support small farmers in countries hit by rising food prices. The aid package is part of the €1 billion EU Food Facility, created with the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and FAO to focus on programs that have a rapid but lasting impact on food security.[13] FAO is receiving around €200 million for work in 25 countries, of which €15.4 million goes to Zimbabwe.[14]
Food safety programs
The Special Program for Food Security is one of FAO's main initiatives to achieve the goal of halving the number of hungry people in the world by 2015 (currently estimated at nearly 1 billion people), as part of its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. Through projects in more than 100 countries around the world, the program promotes effective and concrete solutions for the elimination of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Currently 102 countries participate in the program and of these approximately 30 have begun to move from pilot programs to national programs. To maximize the impact of its work, FAO strongly promotes country ownership of programs and encourages citizen participation in the countries in which it operates.
emergency response
FAO helps countries prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to emergencies. FAO focuses on strengthening disaster preparedness capacity and the ability to mitigate the impact of emergencies on food security, by forecasting and providing early warning of adverse conditions, assessing needs and developing programs that promote the transition from relief to reconstruction and development, improving the analysis of the causes of crises, and strengthening local capacities to address risks. An example of his work was a recent report outlining the poor prospects for crops in East Africa.[15].
Early warning on food emergencies
The Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) monitors global food demand and supply and provides timely information to the international community on crop prospects and the food security situation.
Integrated pest management
During the 1990s, FAO played a leading role in promoting integrated pest management for rice production in Asia. Hundreds of thousands of farmers were trained in a program known as Farmer Field School (ECA)&action=edit&redlink=1 "Farmer Field School (ECA) (not yet drafted)"). Like many of the programs administered by FAO, funding for such field schools came from bilateral trust funds with Australia, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland acting as the main donors. FAO's efforts in this area have earned praise from NGOs that have previously criticized much of the organization's work.
Transboundary pests and diseases
FAO established an “Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases” in 1994, focusing on the control of diseases such as rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza, helping governments coordinate their responses. A key element is the "Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme", which has made progress across large areas of Asia and Africa and has finally declared rinderpest eradication.[16] Meanwhile, the "Locust Watch" program monitors the locust situation around the world and keeps affected countries and donors informed of developments.
International Plant Protection Convention
The FAO created the International Plant Protection Convention or IPPC in 1952. This international treaty organization works to prevent the international spread of plant diseases and pests. Its functions include maintaining lists of plant pests, monitoring pest outbreaks, and coordinating technical assistance between member countries. As of July 2009, 173 governments had adopted the treaty.
Global Collaborative Initiative to Strengthen Plant Breeding Capacity
The Global Collaborative Initiative to Strengthen Plant Breeding Capacity (GIPB) is a global partnership dedicated to increasing the reproductive capacity of plants.[17] The mission of the GIPB is to enhance the capacity of developing countries to improve crops for food security and sustainable development through plant breeding and better delivery systems.[18] The primary objective is to ensure that a critical number of plant breeders, leaders, managers and technicians, donors and the partners are linked to each other through an effective global network. Increasing capacity building for plant breeding in developing countries is critical to achieving significant results on poverty and hunger reduction and reversing current worrying trends. Plant breeding is a recognized science, capable of expanding the genetic base and adaptability of cropping systems, through the combination of conventional selection techniques and modern technologies. It is essential to confront and prevent the repetition of crises such as food prices and respond to the growing demand for energy-based crop sources.
Codex Alimentarius
FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) created the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1963 to develop food standards, guidelines and texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The main objectives of the program are to protect consumer health, ensure fair trade and promote the coordination of all food standards agreed upon by intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.
Statistics
The FAO Statistics Division produces FAOSTAT, a multilingual online database that currently contains more than 3 million record sets from more than 210 countries and territories covering statistics on agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, forestry, food aid, land use and population. The Statistics Division also produces data on global agricultural trade flows. Some of this data comes from projects such as Africover"). However, despite the efforts, there are many authors who warn of errors made in the statistics offered. FAOSTAT presents current and historical errors in censuses and livestock production. FAO and agricultural statistical errors. Statistical errors have been detected in data calculated and provided directly by the countries. There are also numerous missing data that the FAO does not warn about.
Investment in agriculture
FAO's Technical Cooperation Department hosts an Investment Center that promotes greater investment in agriculture and rural development by helping developing countries identify and formulate sustainable agriculture policies, programs and projects. Financing is mobilized from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, regional development banks and international funds, as well as resources from FAO.
TeleFood
Raising awareness about the problem of hunger mobilizes energy to find a solution. In 1997, FAO launched TeleFood, a campaign of concerts, sporting events and other activities to harness the power of the media, celebrities and concerned citizens to help fight hunger. Since its inception, the campaign has generated around US$28 million, around €15 million in donations. Money raised through TeleFood funds sustainable projects that help small farmers produce more food for their families and communities.
The projects provide tangible resources, such as fishing equipment, seeds and agricultural tools. These projects vary greatly, from helping families raise pigs in Venezuela, to creating school gardens in Cape Verde and Mauritania; or supplying school lunches in Uganda and teaching children to grow food; for fish farming in a leper community in India.
Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition (AAHM)
The Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (AAHM)[19][20] aims to address how countries and organizations can be more effective in promoting and delivering action to combat hunger and malnutrition. As a global association, AAHM creates global connections between local, regional, national and international institutions that share the goals of fighting hunger and malnutrition. The organization works to address food security by increasing resources and sharing knowledge and strengthening activities to combat hunger within countries and across state borders at the regional and international levels.
Following the World Food Summit, the Alliance was initially created in 2002 as the International Alliance Against Hunger (IAHC) to strengthen and coordinate national efforts in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The Alliance's mission originates from the first and eighth Millennium Development Goals, to reduce the number of people suffering from hunger by half by 2015 (preceded by the “Rome Declaration” in 1996) and to foster a global partnership for development. The Alliance was founded by the Rome-based food agencies: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),[21] World Food Program (WFP),[22] International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)],[23] and Bioversity International.[24].
Today, AAHM is a global forward-thinking initiative that links like-minded organizations and institutions that are involved in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. AAHM provides a unique multi-stakeholder platform and forum in which people leading top-down and bottom-up development initiatives can meet in a neutral and open environment, share ideas, learn from each other's successes and lessons, and establish networks for supportive communication within countries, across national borders or with countries in different parts of the world.
The Alliance offers a space where governments and civil society organizations can find similarities, establish working relationships and, through unity, increase their visibility, recognition and impact. Inviting all those actively involved in anti-hunger initiatives to join, the Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition operates on two levels:
• - At the international level, as a global partnership bringing together a wide range of stakeholders, including United Nations organizations and international NGOs.
• - At the national level, by supporting the establishment and activities of the National Alliances against Hunger and Malnutrition (NAAHM) and facilitating links between them.[25].
FAO Goodwill Ambassadors
The FAO Goodwill Ambassadors program began in 1999. The main objective of the program is to attract public and media attention to the unacceptable situation that nearly 1 billion people continue to suffer from chronic hunger and malnutrition in a time of unprecedented abundance. These people lead lives of misery and are denied the most basic of human rights: the right to food.
Governments alone cannot end hunger and malnutrition. The mobilization of the public and private sectors, the participation of civil society and the pooling of collective and individual resources are all necessary so that people can escape the vicious cycle of chronic hunger and malnutrition.
Each of FAO's Goodwill Ambassadors - celebrities from the arts, entertainment, sports and academia, such as Nobel Laureate Rita Levi Montalcini, actress Gong Li, the late singer Miriam Makeba, and soccer players Roberto Baggio and Raúl, to name a few - have made a personal and professional commitment to FAO's vision: a world with food security for present and future generations. With their talent and influence, Goodwill Ambassadors reach audiences of all ages and categories: the young, the rich and the poor, in the campaign against world hunger. Their goal is to make food for all a reality in the century and beyond.
Online campaign against hunger
In April 2011 the initial project became the “1 Billion Hungry: EndingHunger” campaign. Led by FAO in collaboration with other UN agencies and private non-profit groups, the EndingHunger movement seeks public support beyond the conventional boundary. It was inspired by the success of the 2010 1billonhungry project and the subsequent chain of public events that led to the collection of more than three million signatures on a global petition to end hunger (www.EndingHunger.org). The petition was originally presented to representatives of the world's governments at a ceremony in Rome on November 30, 2010.[26]
Networking and alliances are two fundamental and dynamic aspects of EndingHunger. The campaign is based on the assistance of organizations and institutions that can facilitate the dissemination of the project, by placing slogans (banners) on their own websites or organizing events aimed at publicizing the project. In its 2011 season, the campaign expanded its multimedia content, seeking mutual visibility agreements with partner organizations, and outlined its focus toward an audience between 14-25 years of age, who were encouraged to understand its potential as a social movement to push for an end to hunger.
Additionally, the EndingHunger project is a “viral” communications campaign, renewing and expanding its efforts to build the movement through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Those who sign the petition can spread the EndingHunger website link to their friends, via social media or email, in order to raise awareness and increase petition signatures. The next goal is to grow the EndingHunger movement community on Facebook to 1 million members. As with the petition, the more people get involved, the more powerful the message to governments: “We are no longer willing to accept the fact that hundreds of millions of people live in chronic hunger.”[27]
Both 1billionhungry and EndingHunger campaigns have continued to attract UN Goodwill Ambassadors from the worlds of music and film, literature, sport, activism and government. Some of the well-known people who have been involved are the former Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former presidents of Chile, Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet, the actress Susan Sarandon, the actors Jeremy Irons and Raúl Bova, the singers Céline Dion and Anggun, the authors Isabel Allende and Andrea Camilleri, the musician Chucho Valdés and the Olympic legend in both track and field Carl Lewis.[28].
FAO reform
A comprehensive program of organizational reform and cultural change began in 2008 after the launch of an independent external evaluation. The restructuring of Headquarters and the delegation of decision-making has resulted in a faster response structure and reduced costs. The modernization and rationalization of administrative and operational processes continues. Improved internal teamwork and closer external collaboration, along with improved Information Technology infrastructure and greater autonomy of FAO's decentralized offices allows the Organization to respond quickly where needs are greatest. As FAO is first and foremost a knowledge-based organization, investment in human resources is a priority. Capacity building has been established that includes a leadership program, employee rotation and a new Young Professionals Program. Individual performance management, an ethics officer and an independent evaluation office have been established to improve performance through learning and increased supervision.[29].
DAD-IS
FAO hosts DAD-IS[30] the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a communication and information tool for the management of animal genetic resources that provides the user with searchable databases of breed-related information, management tools, and contacts of regional and national coordinators for the management of the animal genetic resources program.
75 years of FAO
Over the past 75 years, FAO's outlook and overall work has taken on new environmental and sustainability dimensions, and in 2020, the organization has begun a strategic reinvention. As COVID-19 exacerbates vulnerabilities related to conflict and climate change, and with only 10 years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, FAO is seeking to establish advanced research, digitalization and comprehensive innovation partnerships to help end hunger and malnutrition.[31].