Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was
founded in 1945 with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards
of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to improve the condi-
tion of rural populations in the world. Today, FAO is the largest specialized
agency in the United Nations system and is the lead agency for agriculture
and rural development. FAO is composed of eight departments: Agricul-
ture, Economic and Social, Fisheries, Forestry, Sustainable Development,
Technical Cooperation, General Affairs, and Information and Adminis-
tration and Finance. As an intergovernmental organization, FAO has 183
member countries plus one member organization, the European Union.
Since its inception, FAO has worked to alleviate poverty and hunger by
promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition, and the pursuit
of food security—defined as the access of all people at all times to the food
they need for an active and healthy life. Food production in the world has
increased at an unprecedented rate since FAO was founded, outpacing the
doubling of the world's population over the same period. Since the early
1960s, the proportion of hungry people in the developing world has been
reduced from more than 50% to less than 20%. Despite these progressive
developments, more than 790 million people in the developing world—
more than the total population of North America and Western Europe
combined—still go hungry (FAO, 2004).
FAO strives to reduce food insecurity in the world, especially in devel-
oping countries. In 1996, the World Food Summit convened by FAO in
Rome adopted a plan of action aimed to reduce the number of the world's
hungry people in half by 2015. While the proper foundation of this goal
lies, among others, in the increase of food production and ensuring access
to food, there is also a need to monitor the current food supply and de-
mand situation, so that timely interventions can be planned whenever the
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