ROME—On Jan. 3, newly appointed U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization Director-General José Graziano da Silva held his first press conference where he said hunger eradication is the first of five strategic priorities he intends to pursue during his term.
Graziano da Silva said FAO would begin by scaling up its support to a number of low-income, food deficit countries, especially those facing prolonged crises. He said. ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone, and he wants to work "in the most transparent and democratic way" with member countries, United Nations agencies, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders.
Other priorities include moving toward more sustainable systems of food production and consumption; achieving greater fairness in the global management of food; completing FAO's reform and decentralization; and expanding South-South cooperation and other partnerships.
He also emphasized that he would strive to make FAO more effective and responsive by administrative cost-cutting and efficiency gains. He stressed that efficiency savings would not cut into FAO's technical work and he would try to use them to strengthen the organization's direct assistance to countries.
"I am convinced that the organization can make a significant and growing contribution to food security and sustainable food production and consumption in the world," he said.
