Founded in October 1945 in Quebec, Canada, the FAO has been headquartered in Rome since 1951. Currently, 194 countries and the European Union (EU) are members.
Tasks and Objectives

As a specialized UN agency, the FAO has a global mandate for food and agriculture. Its main goal is to combat hunger and improve living standards, particularly in rural areas. The FAO aims to:

• Enhance living standards
• Improve nutrition and address hunger and malnutrition
• Increase efficiency and sustainability in agricultural production and distribution
• Create better living conditions for rural populations
• Promote global economic development

To achieve this mandate, the FAO undertakes the following main tasks:

• Collecting, evaluating, and disseminating information on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and food
• Setting global standards in collaboration with the WHO (e.g., Codex Alimentarius)
• Developing decision-making frameworks for agricultural development with member states and international organizations
• Providing policy advice and strategies for food security with a focus on sustainability
• Supporting food assistance operations under the World Food Programme (WFP)

Institutional Structure

The supreme body is the FAO Conference, which includes all member states and the EU. It decides on policy matters such as:

• Strategic direction (Strategic Framework and Medium-Term Plan)
• Organization and structure (Constitution; Basic Texts)
• Work and Budget Programme (PWB)

The Conference meets every two years, with the next session scheduled for 2027. In the meantime, the FAO Council, consisting of 49 members and headed by an independent chairperson, exercises control and supervision over the organization.

Funding

FAO operates on the basis of a two-year work program and budget (PWB). For 2026/27, it has approximately US$1 billion in mandatory contributions and around US$2.7 billion in expected voluntary contributions at its disposal. The mandatory contributions are based on the adjusted UN contribution scale, with Germany being the fourth largest contributor at 5.69%, after the US, China, and Japan.

The largest voluntary contributions (as of 2024) come from the EU, followed by the US, the Green Climate Fund, the Pandemic Fund, the World Bank, and the Global Environment Facility. Germany will provide approximately USD 42 million in voluntary funds in 2024.

FAO and Germany

• Germany has been a member of the FAO since 1950 and rejoined the FAO Council in July 2025.
• It is a founding member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which sets international food standards.
• The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH) has concluded a framework agreement with the FAO on project cooperation in the area of food security in order to finance multi-year projects to improve food security in priority countries through a bilateral trust fund.
• Further voluntary contributions from Germany come mainly from the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

As of February 2025

FAO Director-General
Qu Dongyu (China), since August 2019

FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 - Rome, Italy
Internet: https://www.fao.org/home/en