Conflict, climate change, and the lasting impacts of COVID-19 are devastating local and global food systems and the people who rely on them. Especially the most vulnerable. Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine has significantly worsened these challenges. Read More»
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Rome-based agencies Cindy McCain sees joint food, nutrition and resilience work in Laos
Yet, there are some glimmers of hope. Mr. Executive Director, the United States has heard your call and the calls of millions of hungry people around the world. I am proud that we have contributed nearly $6 billion dollars to WFP this U.S. fiscal year. Given the overwhelming need, other countries have also increased their ... Read More»
Ambassador Cindy McCain Announces $80 Million in Additional Humanitarian Assistance to FAO (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Sahel)
Public Affairs Section of the United States Mission to the UN Agencies, Rome Italy PRESS STATEMENT Ambassador Cindy H. McCain U.S. Mission to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome September 1, 2022 We continue to witness the negative global effects of Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. This is a ... Read More»
Deputy Chief of Mission Jennifer Harhigh’s Remarks at FAO Council
The United States reaffirms the vital role of the United Nations system in responding to the global food security crisis, in particular through the work of FAO, WFP, and IFAD. Read More»
Ambassador Cindy McCain’s Remarks at the closing of the Informal North America Regional Conference at FAO
That partnership is grounded in FAO and North America’s strong commitment to science, innovation, and the organization’s global role supporting normative and standard setting work for food and agriculture. Read More»
U.S. Ambassador Cindy McCain visits humanitarian crisis response activities in southern Madagascar
The UN agencies and USAID are working together to build community resilience to climate shocks in Madagascar’s deep south, where the latest analysis suggests 1.47 million people – or 50 percent of the region’s population - are food insecure. Read More»
Statement by the United States at the joint FAO/WFP briefing on Ukraine
The United States is gravely concerned about the situation in Ukraine. Russia’s attack on Ukraine was unprovoked and unjustified. Read More»
Ambassador Cindy McCain presents her diplomatic credentials to the Director-General of FAO Dr. Qu Dongyu
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies in Rome, Cindy Hensley McCain, was delighted to present her diplomatic credentials to Dr. Qu Dongyu, the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Read More»
Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires Jennifer Harhigh at the 2021 Committee on Food Security
The United States is proud to be a leader in agricultural innovation, in adapting our food systems to the impacts of climate change, and in fighting hunger and malnutrition both at home and abroad. Read More»
U.S. Statement on the Election of the Food and Agriculture Organization Council Members at the 42nd Session of FAO Conference
Those standing for membership on the Council must share a clear and consistent commitment to respecting human rights. They must also allow and facilitate access of life-saving humanitarian assistance to their citizens to achieve a world free from hunger and extreme poverty. Read More»
Remarks by Ambassador Kip Tom at the at FAO Informal North American Regional Conference Plenary Session
A BIG Congratulations to the FAO on your 75th anniversary. Read More»
The United States supports the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Response to COVID-19
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is playing an important role in assessing and responding to the impacts of COVID-19 on people’s life and livelihoods around the world, the global food trade, markets, food supply chains and livestock. Read More»
Ambassador Kip Tom visits Rwanda, attends the Africa Food Security Dialogue
August 10, 2019 Partnerships were a key theme on Ambassador Kip Tom’s recent visit to Rwanda. From August 5-8th the Ambassador participated in the Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue (AFSLD) in Kigali, Rwanda and made several site visits to UN projects promoting food security and local economic development. “Agriculture by nature involves risk, but by ... Read More»
Under Secretary Ted McKinney delivers the U.S. Statement at the 41st FAO Conference
Rome, June 24, 2019 Mr. Chairman, Director General Graziano da Silva, distinguished colleagues and guests, thank you for the opportunity to address you all today. It is an honor and a pleasure to join fellow Member states to find solutions to end hunger. And, the United States thanks Director General Graziano da Silva for his ... Read More»
Remarks by Ambassador Kip Tom at the Digital Agriculture Transformation Seminar at FAO
We are in the early years of the digital revolution as it relates to farming, and we are seeing the convergence of biotechnology and digital sciences transform our ability to measure, monitor and control our farms. Read More»
Ambassador Kip Tom speaks at the launch of the Decade of Family Farming at the FAO
One of the challenges of farming is making your farm sustainable: making the right choices so the farm can grow, remain profitable, preserve its natural resources, so it can survive for generations. Read More»
The 15th McGovern lecturer: Dr. Christopher Barrett
Dr. Christopher Barrett, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, delivered the 15th Annual McGovern Lecture at FAO on Science and Solidarity: Innovations to Meet Global Food Security Challenges. April 4th, 2019 “Food security may be the defining global challenge of the century.” This was Dr. ... Read More»
Fan-Li Chou, Biotechnology Coordinator, USDA, participates in FAO Agricultural Innovation Symposium
"As a government entity, at USDA we don’t pick and choose what’s good – what’s bad," said Chou. "We just tell you what’s useful. In the U.S. we always say we have a big umbrella: we have organic agriculture, we have conventional agriculture, we have biotech agriculture. They all coexist with each other. It is ... Read More»
Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Duffy at the Launch of the 2018 Global Report on Food Crises
The 2018 Global Report on Food Crises presents evidence that speaks to some of our deepest concerns: the number of food insecure people is rising rapidly -- up 11 percent from 2017 – and new or intensified conflicts have played a major role in that increase. The number of people experiencing food insecurity is on the ... Read More»
USAID and FAO Working Together to Pre-empt the Next Global Pandemic
A United States-FAO partnership working to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to manage outbreaks of diseases in farm animals has in just 12 months succeeded in training over 4,700 veterinary health professionals in 25 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The FAO-provided technical trainings covered a gamut of key competencies, including disease ... Read More»
U.S. Support for UN Farmer Field Schools Promotes Rural Development in Haiti
By Heather Eaton. Getting out of Rome and into the field to see international humanitarian projects in action is an essential part of representing the United States at the United Nations food and agricultural agencies in Rome. Visiting the operating grounds of these projects and meeting beneficiaries allows us to see firsthand how U.S. contributions to ... Read More»
Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Duffy joins leaders of WFP, FAO and IFAD on joint visit to Ethiopia
USUN Chargé d’Affaires Thomas M. Duffy joined the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s President Gilbert F. Houngbo and the World Food Programme (WFP)’s Executive Director David Beasley) when they made a joint visit to Ethiopia from September 1-4 . The heads of the ... Read More»
Remarks by Jason Hafemeister, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs USDA, to the 40th FAO Conference
The world must bridge the gap between humanitarian and development assistance, while also sustaining our long-term efforts to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. The Rome-based agencies are critical to filling this gap. The United States remains firmly committed to combatting poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, improving agricultural productivity, expanding opportunities for rural economic growth, and bettering ... Read More»
Iowa State University Students Visit the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies
A group of students from Iowa State University’s Dean’s Global Agricultural and Food Leadership Program visited the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome in May to learn about the role the United States plays in the international effort to address global food security. Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Duffy discussed the importance of challenging assumptions ... Read More»
USUN Mission participates in FAO field trip to Morocco and Sudan
USUN Political/Economic Officer Daleya Uddin recently joined other representatives from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'s member countries on visits to observe the particular food security and agriculture challenges in Morocco and Sudan. Her video report below provides a glimpse into those challenges, as well as the innovative FAO projects making a ... Read More»
Remarks by Karla Thieman, Chief of Staff, U.S.D.A., at the FAO Conference on Rural Women
As agriculture professionals, we play a pivotal role in ending hunger and poverty. As this challenge has been confronted by numerous international organizations, faith-based groups and governments, women have emerged as playing a major role in agriculture around the globe. But often, their voices are still not heard and they are still not invited to ... Read More»
USUN Rome hosts the 2016-2017 U.S. Youth Observer to the United Nations
Every year the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), selects a young American to serve as a Youth Observer to the United Nations. The Youth Observer position was created to increase youth interest and participation in international relations. This year's Youth Observer, Ms. Nicol Perez, spent ... Read More»
The United States has ratified the FAO Port State Measures Agreement
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies in Rome, David Lane, on March 7, formally presented Jose Graziano Da Silva, Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with the United States’ instrument of ratification of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing . The United States became the 22nd nation to ratify the treaty when President Barack Obama ... Read More»
Helping the Most Vulnerable Lift Themselves Up in Cambodia
Traveling in the developing world to observe food security challenges and review projects and progress often stirs mixed emotions, and our just-completed trip through Cambodia was no exception. Alongside the excitement of learning about dramatic gains in agriculture productivity and cautious optimism from seeing important nutrition lessons adopted, I have to acknowledge the bracing effect ... Read More»
Reporting on the U.S. Fight Against World Hunger
In the Arusha Region of Tanzania, we visited with small holder farmers who, with the help of the Government of Tanzania, USAID, and the United Nations, are improving their farming techniques and achieving remarkable growth in production and income. Augustino took us on a tour of his small mountain farm where he uses seedling trays, ... Read More»
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