June 12, 2010

Sowing Seeds of Hunger

This past week has been all FAO. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Its headquarters is based in Rome and is a huge organization that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Achieving food security for ALL is at the heart of FAO's efforts, to make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

Source

FAO's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of the rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy.

FAO provides the kind of behind the scenes assistance that helps people and nations help themselves. If a community wants to increase crop yields but lacks the techinical assistance or skills, FAO introduces simple sustainable tools and techniques for the community. When a drought pushes already vulnerable groups to the point of famine, FAO will mobilize action to help.


FAO is governed by the Conference of Member Nations. They meet every two years to review the work carried out by the organization and approve a program of work and budget.

FAO is composed of 8 different departments within. Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Economic and Social Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, Natural Resources Management and Environment, Technical Cooperation, Human, Financial, and Physical Resources and Knowledge and Communication.

This picture above is one small section of the FAO building. This is their banner for their 1 billion people hungry campaign. It says, 1 billion people live in chronic hunger and I'm mad as hell. Pretty strong statement, huh?

So everyday, well almost everyday of this past week, we have visited FAO to listen to presentations from various workers from different departments within to tell us about what they are doing and what their job consists of.

Despite the long days of sitting in cold rooms with comfy chairs, I had a lot of fun visiting FAO. I learned a lot, seen a lot, and I felt like a professional. :) We needed to dress nicely and we each got a special name tag which was our building pass. Not many people get the privilege to visit FAO, so I felt honered to be able to walk the halls of the corporation and sit in the actual conference rooms where big honchos speak at very important conferences with people all around the world.

Here are some of the topics that we learned about:

Assessment Issues:

-Nutrition requirements, composition, assessment and biodiversity

-Distance-learning Tool for Self-learners and Universities

Nutrition Education and Communication:

-Nutrition Education work

-Update on Feeding Minds and new nutrition lessons

-Overview and highlights of nutrition education in schools and school garden projects

Community Nutrition and Food Safety:

-Food security policies and programmes: impact of the food and financial crisis

-Food-based approaches for combating hunger and malnutrition

-Food Safety, as an element of food security and nutrition foods

-Unsafe food and global impact, need for global response

-Capacity building and HIV Mitigation: Project on Improving the Food and Nutrition Security of HIV Affected Communities, particularly in Lesotho and Malawi

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Let's just say FAO is hard at work? yes.



Above and below, some of the signs that hang among the walls in the FAO building.


1 billion people. hungry. that's A LOT.

FAO has a petition to sign and end hunger.

My signature.

FAO has a blend with the United Nations and together, they created what they call, the MDG's. Millenium Development Goals to be reached by 2015. It is a huge document of goals related to nutrition, poverty, hunger etc etc. FAO and many others are realizing that these goals are moving much too slow and will not be reached by 2015. Even though FAO and its partners are making much progress and improving some situations and helping many many people throughout the world, they will never be able to cure all the problems and sorrows. Mankind will never be able to cure the hunger situation in the world but we can try as hard as possible to help feed those who have the right to food, right now.

Which by the way, is my topic for presentation on Monday. The Right to Food.

Sahira's tidbit {God will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.-Rev. 21:4.

When God's will is done on earth, people will not get sick or die because of inherited sin and imperfection. The dead in God's memory will have the opportunity to live forever, for the Bible promises: "There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." There will be no more war, illness, or hunger, and the earth will be transformed into a paradise}.

So in do saying, no matter how much good FAO is putting forth, only one solution will cure the hunger situation.

Me at FAO. One day I'll be a professional. This was just practice. :)



The group at FAO.

Love and kisses.

Ciao for now!

1 comment:

The High Family said...

this was an educational post...great job explaining everything! LOVE the pictures!