Hartwig de Haen a professor at the Institute for Agricultural Economics in Göttingen until 1990, was Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, first heading FAO's Agriculture Department and from 1995 the Economic and Social Development Department. From 2008 until 2016 he has been a member of the Supervisory Board (Präsidium) of Welthungerhilfe. Hartwig de Haen is member of the Académie d'Agriculture de France.