Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: description, history of creation, work

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an agency dedicated to fighting world hunger. It is a forum where many states discuss food security initiatives. Also, the UN Food Organization is a source of information, it helps developing countries to provide an adequate level of food for the population. Its motto is translated as “Let there be bread.”

History

The United Nations food organization began in 1943, at the height of World War II. It happened in the USA, in the city of Hot Springs. At that moment, 44 countries, including the Soviet Union, decided to create the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The main office in 1951 was moved from the United States to Rome. The central body of the institution is the Conference, convened every 2 years to control the activities of the institution, the developmentbudget.

As a rule, it is formed for 2 years. The conference elects the director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. This last happened on July 8, 2017. This time, several thousand representatives of the participating countries gathered at the headquarters.

Structure

The institution consists of 7 departments: administration and finance, economic development, fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture and consumer protection, natural resource management, technical cooperation. In 2017, the United Nations Agriculture Organization employed 196 employees.

Tasks

The main tasks of this institution is to fight poverty, hunger, and promote the development of agriculture around the world. It seeks to ensure that food is delivered to all states. It is both a forum and a source of additional information. The UN World Food Organization is helping developing countries cope with the situation in agriculture at difficult times.

Fields of activity

The programs of this institution are engaged in the prevention of crisis phenomena in society, which would have a negative impact on the food supply of the population. If the need arises, it is it that decides on the provision of support to States in difficulty.

About 2,000,000,000 dollars of donations are allocated to the projects of the UN organization FAO every year, which are invested in the development of the village. ATIn 1979, it was she who introduced the celebration of World Food Day - October 16th. This is the founding day of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The institution publishes collected data on agriculture. To access them, you need to pay a fee of $ 1,200. The official website indicates that this money goes to the development of information resources of the institution.

Priority

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has identified areas of action with the highest priority. First, we are talking about the fight against hunger in the world - the institution concentrates efforts related to the implementation of commitments to support food security. Data is being collected regarding hunger and existing problems in this area. After that, solutions are developed to counter such crisis phenomena.

Productivity in agriculture is actively increasing. New strategies are constantly being tested and introduced to maintain production efficiency. At the same time, measures are being taken to ensure that natural resources are not undermined.

There is a massive fight against poverty in the villages. Thus, remote settlements are provided with resources and services. Social protection is being provided to local residents, ways are being developed along which they could get out of poverty.

In addition, conditions are being provided for the formation of a secure food system. Small rural businesses are supported, which also contributes to poverty andfamine in the backcountry disappeared.

One of the priorities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is to make the livelihoods of local people sustainable even in times of emergency and disaster. This makes the agricultural system more sustainable.

Resource protection

The most important task of this institution is to ensure that genetic resources in agriculture are conserved. It ensures the conservation of the biological diversity of plants and animals. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations considers biodiversity to be essential for efficient production. It is proclaimed one of the most valuable resources on Earth. According to official data from studies collected by this UN agency, 14 species of animals and birds provide 90% of all livestock products.

In 1983, the same institution created an intergovernmental forum, the Commission on Genetic Resources. She was engaged in the assessment of the use of resources around the world. So it was revealed that 8% of the breeds of domestic animals died out, and another 22% are in danger of extinction. The data is collected through the efforts of volunteers as well as national coordinators.

In practice

At the moment, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization helps about 80,000,000 people in 80 countries every year. This is the largest institution designed to fight hunger around the globe. Itis engaged in the delivery of humanitarian aid to points where the crisis flares up. In emergencies, it works with affected communities to improve nutrition, build resilience.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations proclaimed its duty to get rid of hunger in the world, introducing a special program, according to which, by 2030, food security in the world will be ensured. At the moment, there are official figures that one in nine people are malnourished. The organization has committed itself to putting an end to the hunger that has accompanied humanity throughout its history.

In numbers

Every day, 5,000 trucks, dozens of ships and hundreds of planes are sent on the road to provide food and other types of assistance to the populations in the areas most in need of support.

Approximately 12,600,000,000 food rations are distributed each year, each costing $0.31. The institution has established itself as capable of responding in the shortest possible time to the crisis phenomena of the organization. It often succeeds in the most difficult conditions.

The attention of the leadership is riveted to cases where it is urgent to provide assistance and support, to conduct special operations. Two-thirds of all the tasks facing the organization are carried out at the points of combat operations. It has been proven that it is in them that the population suffers from hunger three times more often than people living in an area with a peaceful sky abovehead.

In times of crisis, UN representatives are usually the first to be on the scene and provide assistance to the victims. We are talking about wars, civil conflicts, droughts, natural disasters. Representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also help to restore destroyed lives, to obtain livelihoods for victims of emergency situations. In addition, there is an ongoing effort to develop ways to make communities resilient even in the face of ongoing crises.

Zero Hunger

According to official data, every year many people around the world go hungry, find it difficult to find a livelihood for themselves and their families. And this despite the fact that the production of more products than what a person can consume. Approximately 815,000,000 inhabitants of the Earth suffer from hunger on a daily basis. In addition, one in three people suffer from occasional malnutrition.

And this institution has set itself the task of getting rid of these negative phenomena. Due to malnutrition, lack of nutrients, the he alth of the local population in many parts of the world is deteriorating, the development of labor activity and education is hindered. Hunger is still the source of much suffering. In 2015, the organization set itself 17 goals, and the second of them is called “zero hunger”. It consists in completely getting rid of world hunger and establishing food security, stimulating the development of world agricultureeconomy. This is the highest priority of the current tasks.

Corporate strategy

The 2021 Food Program Strategy contains plans to strengthen the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality. It is planned to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of the most vulnerable areas.

Two ways are proclaimed to support the affected areas - through the provision of direct assistance and through strengthening the capacity of the state. Both of these methods are in the focus of the management of the institution. The trend is that the humanitarian need is now becoming more long-term.

In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has not ignored the issue of climate change, and also considers increasing inequality as a problem. There are measures in the programs that are applied to get rid of the negative consequences of such phenomena, to eradicate them.

School meals

In 1963, the United Nations School Feeding Project was introduced in Togo. According to research conducted by UN experts, every day around the world, many schoolchildren end up in educational institutions, being hungry. This negatively affects their learning. Someone does not show up at school because at that moment he is busy helping his family around the house and in the fields. For this reason, the organization has introduced a program to provide school meals to 17,400,000 children in 62 states.

More information

Proclaimed missions by this institutionlogically follow from the history of its creation. In 1963, the largest earthquake in Iran took place, the victims of which were 12,000 local residents. Several thousand households were destroyed. It was after these events that the first act of assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations took place. At that time, it only existed for a couple of months.

The baptism of fire of the newly created unit actually took place. Then it sent 1,500 tons of wheat, 270 tons of sugar and 27 tons of tea to the local population.

The very idea of creating such a unit was once experimental within the UN. The organization was introduced to test its necessity. The results were to be summed up after three years of its active functioning. Crisis phenomena in the world occurred constantly, and in the course of providing assistance to the affected areas, the organization proved its effectiveness.

She helped the victims of typhoons, independent states, on whose territory hungry refugees accumulated. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in these cases provided active assistance, sending humanitarian aid to the victims, and assisted in the restoration of destroyed farms. With the confirmation of the viability of the organization in 1965, its status was officially fixed. So the organization became a full part of the UN, it exists until the moment when "various nutrition is considered appropriate and desirable."