The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an institution whose work is aimed at combating world hunger. It is a forum in which many states discuss food safety initiatives. The UN Food Organization is also a source of information; it helps developing countries to provide the population with an adequate level of food. Her motto is translated as "Let there be bread."
History
The UN Food Organization was launched in 1943, at the height of World War II. It happened in the USA, in the city of Hot Springs. At that time, 44 countries, including the Soviet Union, decided to create the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The head office in 1951 was moved from the United States to Rome. The central authority of the institution is the Conference, convened every 2 years to control the activities of the institution and budgeting.
As a rule, it is formed for 2 years. The conference elects the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This was the last time on July 8, 2017. This time several thousand representatives of the participating countries gathered at 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, 196 employees worked at the UN Agricultural Organization.
Tasks
The main tasks of this institution are the fight against poverty, hunger, and the promotion of agricultural development around the world. It seeks to ensure that food is delivered to all states. This is both a forum and a source of additional information. The UN World Food Organization helps developing countries cope with the situation in agriculture at difficult times.
Areas of activity
The programs of this institution are engaged in the prevention of crisis phenomena in society, which would negatively affect the food supply of the population. If this becomes necessary, it is she who makes the decision to provide support to countries in difficulty.
About $ 2,000,000,000 in donations are allocated to UN FAO UN projects every year, which are invested in village development. In 1979, it was she who introduced the celebration of World Food Day - October 16. This is the day of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The institution publishes the collected agricultural data. To access them you must make a contribution of $ 1,200. The official website indicates that this money goes to the development of information resources of the institution.
In priority
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) outlined the areas of activity with the highest priority. Firstly, we are talking about the fight against hunger in the world - the institution concentrates efforts related to the implementation of commitments to support food safety. Data is being collected on hunger and current problems in this area. After that, solutions are developed to counter such crisis phenomena.
Actively increasing productivity in agriculture. New strategies are constantly being tested and introduced to maintain production efficiency. At the same time, measures are being taken to not undermine natural resources.
A large-scale struggle against poverty in villages is ongoing. So, remote settlements are provided with resources and services. Local residents are provided with social protection, and ways are developed for them to get out of poverty.
In addition, conditions are provided for the development of a safe food system. Small rural business is supported, which also helps to eliminate poverty and hunger in remote areas.
One of the priority tasks of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is to make the livelihoods of local residents sustainable even in extreme conditions and during disasters. This makes the agricultural system more sustainable.
Resource Protection
The most important task of this institution is to ensure that genetic resources in the field of agriculture are preserved. It ensures the conservation of the biological diversity of plants and animals. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations considers biodiversity an essential condition for production to be efficient. It is proclaimed one of the most valuable resources on Earth. According to official data from studies compiled by this UN agency, 90% of all livestock products come from 14 species of animals and poultry.
In 1983, the same institution created an intergovernmental forum - the Commission on Genetic Resources. She took up resource use assessment around the world. So it was revealed that 8% of the breeds of domestic animals died out, and another 22% are threatened with extinction. Data is collected through the efforts of volunteers as well as national focal points.
On practice
Currently, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization helps about 80 million people in 80 countries every year. This is the largest institution designed to combat hunger across the globe. It is engaged in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the points where the crisis erupts. In emergency situations, it collaborates with affected communities to improve their nutrition and resilience.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared its duty to end hunger in the world by introducing a special program according to which, by 2030, food security in the world will be ensured. At the moment, there is official evidence that every ninth person is undernourished. The organization committed itself to putting an end to the famine that has accompanied humanity throughout its history.
In numbers
Every day, 5,000 trucks, dozens of ships, and hundreds of aircraft set off on the road to provide food and other forms of assistance to the populations of the areas that need the most support.
Each year there is a distribution of about 12.6 billion food rations, each of which costs $ 0.31. The institution has established itself as capable of responding to the crisis phenomena of the organization in the shortest possible time. She often successfully operates in the most difficult conditions.
The attention of the management is focused on cases where it is urgent to provide assistance and support, to carry out special operations. Two-thirds of all the tasks facing the organization are carried out at points of operations. It is proved that it is in them that the population three times more often suffers from hunger than people living in an area with a peaceful sky above their heads.
In times of crisis, representatives of the United Nations, as a rule, are the first to appear on the spot 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 help and restore a ruined life, obtain livelihoods for victims of emergency situations. In addition, ways to make communities sustainable, even under constant crisis conditions, are being developed on an ongoing basis.
Zero hunger
According to official figures, every year around the world, a lot of people go hungry, are in a difficult search for livelihoods for themselves and their families. And this despite the fact that the production of more products is carried out than what a person can consume. Every day, approximately 815 million inhabitants of the Earth are starving. In addition, one in three people suffers from periodic malnutrition.
And this institution has set itself the task of getting rid of these negative phenomena. Due to malnutrition, lack of nutrients, the health of the local population is deteriorating in many parts of the globe, and the development of work and education is being hampered. 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 the complete elimination of hunger in the world and the establishment of food security, stimulating the development of world agriculture. This is the highest priority of current tasks.
Corporate strategy
The food program strategy until 2021 contains plans to strengthen the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality. Provides humanitarian assistance to the population of the most vulnerable areas.
Two ways are proclaimed to support the affected areas - by providing direct assistance and by strengthening the capacity of the state. Both of these methods are the focus of the institution's management. There is a tendency for humanitarian need to become increasingly long-term.
In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has not ignored the issue of climate change, and is also considering the problem of increasing inequality. The programs have measures that are used to get rid of the negative consequences of such phenomena, to eradicate them.
School food
In 1963, the United Nations School Nutrition Project was introduced in Togo. According to studies conducted by UN experts, every day around the world, many schoolchildren find themselves in educational institutions, being hungry. This negatively affects their learning ability. Someone does not appear at school because at this moment he is busy helping his family with housework and in the fields. For this reason, the organization has introduced a school feeding program for 17.4 million children in 62 countries.
additional information
The missions proclaimed by this institution logically follow from the history of its creation. The largest earthquake occurred in Iran in 1963, with 12,000 local residents killed. 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 existed for only a couple of months.
The actual baptism 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 need. The results should have been summed up after three years of its active functioning. Crisis events in the world were ongoing, and in the process of providing assistance to the affected areas, the organization proved its effectiveness.
She helped victims of typhoons, independent states on whose territory hungry refugees were piling up. In these cases, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization provided active assistance, sending humanitarian aid to the victims, and assisted in the restoration of the destroyed farms. With confirmation of the viability of the organization in 1965, its status was officially fixed. So the organization has become a full-fledged part of the UN, it exists until the moment when "versatile nutrition is considered appropriate and desirable."