The Rome Diplomatic Conference

Marking the twentieth anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the annual report on the state of food and agriculture reviewed the progress achieved during the second postwar decade, 1954/1955–1964/1965. In his foreword Director-General B. R. Sen noted three distinct phases of FAO's history. In the first, covering the postwar decade, FAO played a role in the task of reconstruction. The second phase, coinciding with the second postwar decade, had been marked by a number of significant developments in science and communications, in demography, and in national aspirations which influenced the outlook and work of FAO. Calling attention to the unprecedented rate of population growth and lagging food supply, FAO had warned that this trend implied a grave peril for the future peace and security of the world. The Freedom from Hunger Campaign launched by FAO in 1960 had represented a response to this new awareness of the dimensions of hunger and malnutrition in the world and of the responsibility of the world community to face the problem. The third phase of FAO's work, opening with the third postwar decade, would be a critical period. Mr. Sen referred to FAO studies, contained in the report, which indicated that the total food supplies of the developing countries would have to be increased fourfold in the next 35 years to give their rapidly expanding populations an adequate diet. The task of FAO, which would depend on the willingness of the leaders of the nations to devote a large share of the world's resources to meet the crisis, would be to assist in laying the foundation for this increase.

We agree with much of the Letter “Tyranny of trees in grassy biomes” (30 January, p. [484][1]), in which J. W. Veldman et al. caution against indiscriminate afforestation in general and especially in grassland areas, as well as acknowledge grasslands' substantial contribution to carbon sequestration ([ 1 ][2], [ 2 ][3]). We consider it misleading, however, to claim that because grasslands are not “formally” recognized, they are not actively studied and considered in ongoing activities of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO has been working on grasslands activities for more than 30 years ([ 3 ][4]) and recognizes that even within grasslands, there are many categories. The FAO's 2005 publication Grasslands of the World explicitly includes grassland biomes ([ 4 ][5]). We estimate that 26% of the world land area and 70% of the world agricultural area are covered by grasslands, which contribute to the livelihoods of over 800 million people ([ 5 ][6]). We have also developed a grassland database with descriptions of more than 300 grassland species from different grassland ecosystems. The FAO has many grassland-related projects and case studies ([ 6 ][7]), including rehabilitation of degraded areas through protected areas and promoting native grassland species. Two relevant projects are the completed “Range rehabilitation and establishment of a wildlife reserve in the Syrian steppe” and the ongoing, globally focused, “Participatory assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management in grassland and pastoral systems” ([ 7 ][8]). We do acknowledge that the definitions of grasslands need to be harmonized and that more research is needed into understanding these areas. 1. [↵][9] FAO, Grasslands Carbon Working Group ([www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/gcwg/en][10]). 2. [↵][11] FAO, Knowledge Base ([www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/gcwg/gcwg-docs/en][12]). 3. [↵][13] FAO, Publications ([www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/pasture/publ_year.htm][14]). 4. [↵][15] 1. J. M. Suttie, 2. S. G. Reynolds, 3. C. Batello FAO, Grasslands of the World, J. M. Suttie, S. G. Reynolds, C. Batello, Eds. (FAO, Rome, 2005); . 5. [↵][16] FAO, Are grasslands under threat? ([www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/grass_stats/grass-stats.htm][17]). 6. [↵][18] FAO, Case studies on grassland and rangeland management ([www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/scpi-home/managing-ecosystems/management-of-grasslands-and-rangelands/grasslands-cases/en][19]). 7. [↵][20] FAO, Participatory assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management in grassland and pastoral systems ([www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/intranet/projects-database/detail/en/c/234274][21]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6221/484.3 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #ref-5 [7]: #ref-6 [8]: #ref-7 [9]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [10]: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/gcwg/en [11]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [12]: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/gcwg/gcwg-docs/en [13]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [14]: http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/pasture/publ_year.htm [15]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [16]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text [17]: http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/grass_stats/grass-stats.htm [18]: #xref-ref-6-1 View reference 6 in text [19]: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/spi/scpi-home/managing-ecosystems/management-of-grasslands-and-rangelands/grasslands-cases/en [20]: #xref-ref-7-1 View reference 7 in text [21]: http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/intranet/projects-database/detail/en/c/234274

marked a significant date in work on gender, peace, and security.Until then, women's experiences, perspectives, and the particular consequences of conflict and war for women were more or less absent from military work in peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions.However, this was about to change, as the Security Council on this date adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace, and Security, which marked the first of nine UN resolutions as of 2021 that have the intention of bringing gender perspectives to international peacekeeping (and peacebuilding) missions.With UNSCR 1325, gendered implications of conflict, peace, and security, which had been part of feminist activists and Feminist International Relations scholars' agenda for decades (Cohn 2004;Schott 2013;Shepherd 2008;Gibbings 2011) began to gain influence in UN military missions, and later NATO missions, and grew into an element of peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions, which today is difficult for member states to disregard.Being part of the ´friendly´ and cosmopolitan-minded North in terms of military work and politically manifesting a commitment to international military work through alliances with NATO and the UN, Denmark situates itself as a military force that albeit it relatively small size, is an active player on the international area and stresses a commitment to UNSCR 1325 i.e. by being the first country in 2005 to adopt the resolution.Nonetheless, despite articulating a national and institutional position as a frontrunner in regard to gender and military work, Denmark has faced critique from the UN, as well as scholars and practitioners.One of the main points has been the lack of focus on domestic issues with gender equality in the Danish Armed Forces as well as the lack of concrete actions to combat discrimination.(Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Justice 2014).In the National Action Plan (NAP) from 2020, which covers the period 2020-2024, the Ministries have taken this critique into account and presents an ambition to "walk the talk" (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Justice 2000).These contradicting national and institutional narratives of being a frontrunner on gender equality and at the same time face critique for this particular point in regard to how the Danish military works internally create certain conflicting narratives on military work and military identities within the Danish Armed Forces.These conflicting narratives have the potential to influence the everyday lives of Danish soldiers and their understandings of their military identities, military work, and duties.It also leads to challenges in the negotiations over military identities including the incorporation of other gendered bodies into the force, let alone adapting to management policies at the local level and the potential discrepancies between practice and policy.

Techniques to more accurately quantify crop evapotranspiration (ETc) are needed fordetermining crop water needs and appropriate irrigation scheduling. In this study, remotely sensedobservations of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were used to estimate cottonbasal crop coefficients (Kcb), which were then applied within the dual crop coefficient procedures ofthe Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Paper 56 (FAO-56) to calculate daily ETc. An experiment in central Arizona during 2003 compared irrigation scheduling using a remotely sensedKcb technique (NDVI treatment) with the FAO-56 Kcb curve (FAO treatment). The FAO curve waslocally developed for optimum crop conditions and standard cotton density. Final lint yield meanswere not significantly different between the two irrigation methods, which included sub-treatments oftwo levels of nitrogen and three plant densities. However, NDVI attained higher yields under low Ninput, whereas FAO generally had higher yields under high N. The ETc estimated using the NDVI-Kcbmethod was in closer agreement with measured cumulative ETc than the FAO Kcb. For high Ntreatments, the mean absolute differences between measured and estimated cumulative ETc duringthe growing season for typical, dense, and sparse populations (10, 20, and 5 plants m-2, respectively)were 4, 17, and 4 mm, respectively, for NDVI, whereas they were10, 32, and 13 mm, respectively,for FAO. Although additional research is needed for improving our remote sensing technique, itpotentially offers an improvement over the FAO Kcb curve for quantifying actual ETc.

** The paper is based on the study carried out by the author for FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and FANRPAN (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network) as a consultant.
 Based on the projection on population growth and food consumption pattern in developing countries, there is likely to be a deficit in the food production by the year
 2050. Africa’s population has just passed 1 billion and it is expected to double by the year 2050 (FAO 2012) According to FAO, Sub Saharan Africa, Uganda inclusive, is the region that has the highest proportion of poor and undernourished people in Africa (FAO,2011a). Agricultural production will, therefore have to increase by at least 70% in order to ensure that the food demands are met.
 Meeting the food demands of a growing population is already a formidable task for agricultural sector of many developing nations like Uganda but this will be further exacerbated by climate change. Largely due to climate change, agricultural productivity is likely to decrease. Similarly, the stability of production and incomes are likely to change. This trend may be even worse in countries which are already experiencing food insecurity (FAO 2012)
 The important implication of this is that for Uganda, policy makers will be faced with an even greater challenge to ensure that agriculture contributes more in addressing food security issues, development and climate change (adaptation and mitigation). In other words, agriculture in Uganda must undergo major and significant transformation in order to address the challenges likely to be faced in achieving food security and responding to climate change. Put in another way, in order to stabilize output and income, production systems must become more resilient or more capable of performing well in the face of disruptive events. This requires transformation in the management of natural resources and higher efficiency in the use of these resources and inputs for production. 
 According to FAO, approaches that seek to maximize the benefits and minimize the trade-offs across the multiple objectives, often associated with agricultural sector, require more integrated and coordinated planning, policies and institutional arrangements as well as financing and investments. Such approaches and related enabling requirements are referred to by FAO as climate smart agriculture. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is thus a way to ensure the achievements of future food security under climate change. CSA encompasses sustainable agriculture and it includes the need for adaptation and the potential for mitigation with associated technical, policy and financing implications.
 This scoping study attempts to review and examine the current production practices as it relates to CSA in Uganda. The study also seeks to conduct comprehensive reviews of the existing policies, analyze gaps and identify relevant policy recommendations.

Theotonio Dos Santos (1936–2018): The Revolutionary Intellectual Who Pioneered Dependency Theory

A contested issue in the international debate on food security is the role of trade in safeguarding food security at the global and national level. This paper explores how the issue of food security and trade has been discursively framed in two international organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), from 1945 to 2014. We argue that there are identifiable shifts in FAO’s positions on food security and trade in the 1980s and 1990s towards trade liberalization as advocated by the WTO. The official view of the WTO secretariat and many of its member states (proponents of trade liberalization in agriculture) is that trade liberalization is both necessary and conducive for food security. The FAO has adopted this discourse. Although this is the dominant discursive framing, counter-framings of the food security - trade problem has played an important role in the deadlock of the Doha Round negotiations. We consider how this may influence the global food trading regime.

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the early years of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its conceptualization of ‘rural welfare’, an approach that foresaw the modernization of agricultural societies and the alleviation of poverty through improvements in labor, housing, health, education of people working in agriculture. Based on the correspondence of FAO officials and experts, the paper shows how in the late 1940s, the Rural Welfare Division, under the leadership of its Director Horace Belshaw, promoted a low-modernist and local-sensitive approach to rural development that emphasized the subjectivity of welfare and that was skeptical of top-down development programs. As the paper argues, Belshaw's holistic understanding of rural communities was abandoned in the early 1950s in favor of an increasingly technical development consultancy, characterized by short-term interventions rather than by an intellectual and scientific debate about the larger implications of development.

Purpose. The study aims to analyze critically the system and functions of specialized agencies, programs and United Nations (UN) funds that ensure the implementation of the second goal of sustainable development (GSD2), to identify the components of global initiatives for the successful implementation of the Zero Hunger Policy.
 Methodology / approach. The methodological approach of the study are theoretical provisions and practical recommendations for the formation of the food supply system, economic theory, which determines the patterns of food distribution, scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists on sustainable development of the agricultural sector to achieve Zero Hunger. The following methods were used in the research process: statistical (regression analysis of the assessment of factor’s impact on the level of daily energy value of food consumed in households in Ukraine), monographic (mechanism of GSD2 implementation in the global dimension), historical method (the UN’s composition and function in guaranteeing GSD2 implementation), systematic analysis (composition and roles of international institutions within the United Nations in guaranteeing GSD2 implementation), direct analysis and synthesis (areas of FAO’s activities in ensuring the implementation of GSD2 at the national level) etc.
 Results. The study found that global initiatives for successful implementation of the Zero Hunger Policy are based on three components: regulatory support, the activities of international organizations coordinated by the UN, and the implementation of the GSD2 framework and programs at the national level, which support most countries across the globe interaction with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
 Originality / scientific novelty. Theoretical provisions regarding global initiatives for the implementation of Zero Hunger Policy have further developed: the main functions of specialized agencies, programs and UN funds that ensure the implementation of GSD2 were systematized, the degree of their spread and influence was determined; it was proved that FAO had a significant potential comparative advantage in assisting countries to meet new challenges in GSD2 monitoring; it was found that the activities of FAO together with partners to ensure global processes for the implementation of GSD2 include different areas.
 Practical value / implications. The obtained results are important for building a network of institutional and international cooperation for the successful implementation of Zero Hunger government policies.

Climate risk screening tools to enhance access to finance: A global framework piloted by the FAO

Strengthening the BTWC: The role of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in combating natural and deliberate disease outbreaks

Understanding crop water requirements (CWR) in semi-arid region is essential for better irrigation practices, scheduling and efficient use of water since the water supply through rainfall is limited. This paper estimated the crop reference and actual evapotranspiration (Eto and ETc) respectively and the irrigation water requirement of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Benin’s sub-basin of Niger River (BSBNR) of west Africa, using CROPWAT model. The long recorded climatic data, crop and soil data from 1942 to 2012 were computed with the Cropwat model which is based on the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paper number 56 (FAO56). The Penman-Monteith method was used to estimate ETo. Crop coefficients (Kc) from the phenomenological stages of rice were applied to adjust and estimate the actual evapotranspiration ETc through a water balance of the irrigation water requirements (IR). The results showed the BSBNR annual reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated at 1 967 mm. The lowest monthly value of ETo of 123 mm, was observed in August month, middle of the rainy season while the highest value 210 mm was observed in March within dry season. The crop evapotranspiration ETc and the crop irrigation requirements were estimated at 651 mm and 383 mm, respectively in rainy season and 920 mm and 1 148 mm, respectively within a dry season. Irrigation projects of these seasons can then be scheduled for water use efficiency based on these findings. Keywords: crop evapotranspiration, irrigation water requirement, rice, CROPWAT, model, Benin DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20150802.1290

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by the fungus kingdom. These fungi (molds) under aerobic and optimum conditions of humidity and temperature consume nutrients for proliferation and the secretion of mycotoxins. There are seven major groups of mycotoxins produced by different species of toxigenic fungal genus. Mycotoxin production and secretion by these fungi depends on the surrounding intrinsic and extrinsic environments. These seven mycotoxin groups—Aflatoxins, Trichothecene, Ochratoxins, Ergot alkaloid (Ergolin), Fumonisins, Patulin, and Zearalenone—contaminate grains, foods, and feeds. These mycotoxin families have the ability to affect mammalian cells, leading to a multitude of issues with normal cell function and a wide range of clinical symptoms of diseases, which can result in health risks and mortality for both humans and animals. The toxicity of these mycotoxins varies depending on the sensitivity of the affected host. The contamination of food and feed materials by these mycotoxins is the main concern of the food and feed industries. To ensure the safety and health of both humans and animals, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are in charge of regulating the allowed levels of these mycotoxins in grains, food, and feeds. Understanding these toxigenic fungal ecology and environmental factors that accelerate these fungal proliferation and mycotoxin secretion in agriculture crops as ingredients for both food and feed manufacturing is essential. In addition, understanding the chemistry and property of these mycotoxins, including methods of detection, illness symptoms, are important factors to comply with regulatory guidance established by World Health Organization (WHO) / Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to prevent or minimize food and feed contamination by these mycotoxins for human and animal health, and to reduce economical loss.

The twelfth session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference was held in Rome from November 16 to December 5, 1963, under the chairmanship of Mr. E. Shiroshi Nasu (Japan). During its session the Conference adopted 57 resolutions covering major trends and policy questions in food and agriculture, activities and programs of the Organization, the budget for 1964–1965, constitutional and legal matters, and administrative and financial matters.

Examines land availability and use in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as the trade-offs among competing uses, by introducing the land cover databases mobilized for this study before describing land use patterns, their determinants, and their evolution over time. The severe scarcity of land in the MENA region remains the critical issue emerging from the analysis. The demographic and climatic trends indicate increasing land demand, and yet land remains under growing stress from climate change. Increasing land scarcity leads to strategic trade-offs about the best use of land to meet competing economic, social, sustainability, and sovereignty objectives. Degradation and desertification, stemming from both climatic and anthropological factors—especially in Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, and Syria—have high economic costs. If climatic and population trends continue as predicted, agricultural land will become significantly scarcer in the MENA region, falling to a level that could lead to a major crisis if not addressed.