World Food Agency – Has Sinaumed’s ever heard of the World Food Agency? The World Food and Agriculture Organization known as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a multinational organization under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). Formed since 1945 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. This organization, having moved from place to place, is now located in Rome, Italy.
The purpose of establishing FAO is to improve nutrition and living standards, increase productivity, marketing to distribution of food and agricultural products. In addition, promoting rural development and eliminating hunger.
FAO’s efforts are a joint effort to achieve food security and equalize living standards by eliminating hunger. From FAO objectives, there are at least 4 main activities including:
- Providing development assistance, especially for developing countries.
- Provides information related to nutrition, food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
- Provide advice to the government regarding food security.
- Hold a neutral forum to discuss and formulate policies on the main issues of food and agriculture.
On this occasion, we will discuss more about the World Food Agency or FAO. In this article, we will discuss everything from definition to departments within FAO. So, read this article to the end, Sinaumed’s.
Definition of the World Food Agency
FAO was founded by the United Nations (UN) in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a neutral intergovernmental organization. This organization seeks to inform and support sustainable agriculture through legislation and national strategies with the goal of reducing hunger.
FAO contributes to international efforts to end hunger and boost local economies by helping member countries modernize and improve agricultural, forestry and fishing practices. Serving 149 member countries, the World Food Agency also aims to be a neutral forum where countries can negotiate agreements and debate policies.
FAO is headquartered in Rome, Italy and has offices in more than 130 countries employing more than 11,500 staff members. More specifically, FAO is working to promote public-private partnerships, improve smallholder farming, and develop mechanisms to monitor, mitigate and warn about hazards in the food chain. Funding comes from industrialized nations, development banks and other sources.
7 Departments of the World Food Agency
The World Food Agency itself has seven departments, where each department has its own function and duties. The following are the departments within FAO.
1. Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection is a department within FAO that promotes agriculture to eradicate human poverty while protecting the environment, ensuring safe food practices and standards.
2. Department of Climate Biodiversity, Soil and Water
The Department of Climate, Biodiversity, Soil and Water is the department whose job is to promote sustainable management practices for soil, energy, water, biodiversity and genetic resources.
3. Corporate Services Department
The Corporate Services Department is the support department for the entire FAO organization.
4. Department of Economic and Social Development
The Department of Economic and Social Development is a department that promotes economic development through internal production and trade.
5. Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is a department that promotes the management of aquaculture and fishing.
6. Ministry of Forestry
The Ministry of Forestry is a department that promotes resource management through forestry.
7. Department of Technical Cooperation and Program Management
The Department of Technical Cooperation and Program Management is the department that supports member countries in their programs and responds to threats and crises related to food and agriculture.
World Food Agency Strategic Goals
The official strategic objectives of the World Food Agency include:
- Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
- Making agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable.
- Reducing rural poverty.
- Activating inclusive and efficient agriculture and food systems.
- Increase resilience of livelihoods against the threat of crisis.
Food Agriculture Organization Program
In carrying out its function as an international organization for the welfare of children, FAO certainly has special programs aimed at all of its members. These programs include:
1. Helps Overcome Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition
There is sufficient capacity in the world to produce and adequately feed all people, but progress over the past two decades, 821 million people are still suffering from chronic hunger. Among children, an estimated 155 million children under 5 years of age are chronically malnourished and more than 52 million are acutely malnourished.
So, what we do is support policies and political commitments that promote food security and good nutrition, conduct field research regarding the latest information on challenges and solutions to hunger and malnutrition and ensure that information is accessible.
2. Making Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries More Productive and Sustainable
The world population is expected to increase to 9 billion people by 2050 and some of the world’s highest population growth rates are expected to occur in areas that are highly dependent on the agricultural sector.
Population growth that continues to increase can threaten the stability of food availability if it is not accompanied by the preservation of food production sources. Growth in the agricultural sector is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty and achieve food security.
3. Reducing Poverty in Rural Areas
Most people in rural areas tend to live in poverty which often causes problems of hunger and food insecurity. This is one of FAO’s mission centers.
In 1990, about 54% of the total population living in rural areas in developing countries lived on less than $ 1.25 per day and were classified as very poor, especially in South Asia and Africa.
FAO seeks to assist smallholder farmers to increase agricultural productivity while increasing off-farm employment opportunities as well as promoting better ways to manage and address risks in their environment.
4. Enabling Inclusive and Efficient Agriculture and Food Systems
With increasing globalization, agriculture as an independent sector will cease to exist, becoming only one part of an integrated value chain. The value chain from production to processing and sales is highly concentrated, integrated and globalized.
This is a major challenge for smallholders in many developing countries because even the most economical smallholders can easily be excluded from important parts of the value chain. Increasing participation in food and agriculture systems will achieve FAO’s goal of a world without hunger.
5. Improving Livelihood Resilience Against Threats and Crisis
Every year many people depend on production, marketing and consumption activities. However, this good condition is not matched by the environment, internal politics or the weather which does not run the same every year.
Conflicts or natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, and even droughts can suddenly strike. Emergency situations like this can threaten people’s production and access to food at the local, national, regional and global levels. FAO’s mission is to help countries manage, prevent and reduce risks that occur and support them in preparing for and responding to disasters.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Partners
The Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Building Division is responsible for developing partnerships with non-state actors that will help to achieve FAO programs. This includes non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academia, research and development institutions, the private sector, producer organizations and cooperatives.
Food Security Sub System
The food security sub-system consists of three main sub-systems namely availability, access and absorption of food. Meanwhile, nutritional status is an outcome of food security. Availability, access and absorption of food is a sub-system that must be fulfilled as a whole.
If one of these subsystems is not met, then a country cannot be said to have good food security. Even though food is sufficiently available at the national and regional levels, if individual access to meeting their food needs is uneven, then food security is still said to be fragile.
There are several sub-systems of food security, as follows:
1. Availability Sub System (Food Availability)
The sub-system of availability is the availability of food in sufficient quantities that are safe and nutritious for all people in a country, whether originating from own production, imports, food reserves or food aid. The availability of this food must be able to provide enough food which is defined as the number of calories needed for an active and healthy life.
2. Food Access
Access to food is the ability of all households and individuals with the resources they have to obtain sufficient food for their nutritional needs which can be obtained from their own food production, purchases or through food assistance.
Household and individual access consists of economic, physical and social access. Economic access depends on income, employment opportunities and prices. Meanwhile, physical access concerns the level of regional isolation/distribution facilities and infrastructure, while social access concerns food preferences.
3. Food Absorption (Food Utilization)
Food absorption is the use of food for the needs of a healthy life which includes the need for energy and nutrition, water and environmental health. The effectiveness of food absorption depends on household/individual knowledge, sanitation and water availability, health facilities and services as well as nutrition counseling and toddler care.
4. Stability
Stability is a time dimension of food security which is divided into chronic food insecurity and transitory food insecurity . Chronic food insecurity as the inability to obtain food needs at any time.
Meanwhile, temporary food insecurity is temporary food insecurity caused by drought, floods, disasters or social conflicts.
5. Nutritional Status
Nutritional status is an outcome of food security as a reflection of a person’s quality of life. Generally, nutritional status is measured by life expectancy, under-five nutritional status and infant mortality.
Ways to Maintain Food Security
Basically, there are several ways you can do to maintain food security, including:
1. Simple Ways to Solve Food Problems
The food problem is a global problem that concerns human life. This is because those who have the responsibility to handle it are not only food organizations but all human beings. Each food sector has an important role to play in ensuring food availability.
There are many ways that can be done to participate in ensuring food availability. No need for heroic ways, just change your lifestyle by eating healthy foods. Moreover, if it can produce its own food for consumption.
By producing their own food, each individual can play an active role in maintaining world food security. There is no need to wait for the activities of FAO as a world food agency to create global food security.
2. Consume Healthy and Diverse Foods
Improving lifestyle by consuming healthy food for a healthy body, also keeping away from various diseases. In addition, it should be noted that consumption of healthy food is good for the health of the body and can play a role in overcoming food problems.
Consumption of healthy and varied foods is an effort to encourage a variety of healthy foods to be continuously produced. With a healthy and diverse diet will encourage biodiversity.
3. Select Local Products or Stores
By choosing local products or buying from local shops/sellers, you can help local farmers and Small Micro Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This is so that farmers can continue to produce food products and encourage plant diversity. Consumption of local products is also fresher, moreover taken directly from the farmers. Apart from being fresher, consumers can also ensure the quality of the products from the producers themselves.
4. Choose Seasonal Foods
Food products circulating in the market when they are not in season can be obtained from foreign imports. The product needs to travel a long way which can reduce its quality. Therefore, it is better to choose to consume food when it is in season, because it is the production of local farmers or producers. The taste and level of maturity of food is also of higher quality and of course still fresh and nutritious.
5. Initiative to Join the Community
Instead of just consuming, it would be better to be a producer for self-consumption. The initiative can be by finding and joining communities that aim to achieve food security.
By producing your own food needs, you can ensure the quality of the product yourself. For example, if you want to consume food that is free of chemical fertilizers, you can replace it with organic fertilizers. Planting activity is also a positive activity to overcome boredom.
6. Growing food at home
You don’t have to join collectively, Sinaumed’s can also create green land to grow food at home, you know. You don’t need a large area of land to be able to plant, even with a balcony you can turn it into a place to grow vegetables and fruit for consumption.
If it is occupied, the food products produced are not only for self-consumption but can be distributed or sold. So besides being able to save expenses it is also profitable when taken seriously.
7. Respect Farmers by Not Wasting Food
It looks trivial, but the impact is quite significant, namely not wasting food. By taking enough food so as not to leave a lot of food. In addition, not wasting food means respecting farmers as food producers.
8. Spread Positive Influence
Inviting more people to participate in supporting food security could be better. such as the habit of consuming healthy food to the movement to grow needs independently.
In this day and age, invitations or campaigns can be carried out using social media. On social media you can easily find similar campaigns tagged with various hashtags.
9. Food Support Program in Education
Creating serious food security can be done by creating programs in the world of education as a long-term food security investment. Programs in the world of education can be in the form of instilling awareness of the importance of a good diet, promoting healthy food through education, not wasting food and so on.
So that’s a complete explanation of the meaning, goals and sub-systems of the World Food Agency , Sinaumed’s. Hopefully all of the discussion above can increase Sinaumed’s’ insight.