Overfishing, Climate Change and Hunger
Overfishing, climate change and hunger is what you call a "triple whammy"on the planet. You may wonder what they have in common, but at the United Nations, no one doubts that the three are dramatically inter-linked. The point was forcefully made
WFD: The Big Fight
WFD, another United Nations World Day? How boring! But this one isn't. In spite of its bland name, WFD or World Food Day, it's not about cooking for foodies, masterchef techniques and filling yourself up. On the contrary, it's about fighting
WFP – From Small to Giant Steps
The World Food Programme: From a Small FAO Unit to Top UN Humanitarian Agency When children outgrow their parents
Diary of a UN Official #2: The Gentleman From Iran
My (Adventurous) Life at the United Nations: An Unexpected End to a Drafting Committee Session. 14 November 1991, 26th FAO Conference in Rome. I glance at my watch, midnight already. The delegates, thirteen in all, are sitting around the table, looking
FAO: Revived But For How Long?
Over the past 100 years, agro-biodiversity has steadily disappeared with the adoption of modern agricultural practices and the globalization of the food system and marketing. Something has gone seriously wrong with agriculture worldwide. Every year local land varieties and landraces are lost,
FAO: A Descent into Hell
In the 1990s, the political world, the so-called "international community" could not countenance the growth of a UN agency that apparently was a sinkhole of ever-growing expenditures and seemed to have more highly-paid directors in its organigram than anyone else. FAO and
FAO: From a Technical to a Highly Politicized Agency
The inclusion of food issues has meant from the beginning that FAO had a very broad scope: it wasn't simply a technical forum for experts but primarily a political one that places concern for human health and survival at the
FAO: a United Nations Agency Born with a Dual Personality
The oldest United Nations technical agency, and at one point in its chaotic history, the largest, has a bizarre name that expresses its dual personality and lack of focus from the start: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
The United Nations Is Not What You Think
Sorry to disappoint, but the UN is neither. Not a beast, not a dream utopia. Too often in the news the UN is reported as if it acts autonomously, as if it is solely responsible for waging war, building peace, providing