The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) ( Italian: Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l ' Alimentazione e l ' Agricoltura ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, and helps developing countries and countries in transition modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices, ensuring good nutrition and food security for all.

FAO is composed of eight departments: Administration and Finance, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Economic and Social Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Forestry, Knowledge and Communication, Natural Resource Management and Technical Cooperation.

FAO's Regular Programme budget is funded by its members, through contributions set at the FAO Conference.

The FAO regular budget for 2012-2013 biennium is US $ 1, 005. 6 million.

FAO is receiving a total of around € 200 million for work in 25 countries, of which € 15. 4 million goes to Zimbabwe.

Some countries may denote specific representatives to the FAO, for instance the United States Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, who has ambassador rank and is also part of the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome.

Additionally outside the region, FSM is a member or participant of the ACP ( Lomé Convention ), the Alliance of Small Island States, the Asian Development Bank, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( ESCAP ), the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), the G-77, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the IMF, the International Olympic Committee, the ITU, the NAM and the World Meteorological Organization.

Jordan is an active member of the UN and several of its specialized and related agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ), and World Health Organization ( WHO ).

Additionally outside the region, Kibibati is a member or participant of the ACP ( Lomé Convention ), the Asian Development Bank, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( ESCAP ), the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the IMF, International Maritime Organization, International Olympic Committee, International Telecommunication Union ( ITU ), Universal Postal Union and the World Meteorological Organization.

Laos is a member of the following international organizations: Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation ( ACCT ), Association of Southeast Asian NationsASEAN, ASEAN Free Trade Area ( AFTA ), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asian Development Bank, Colombo Plan, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific ( ESCAP ), Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), Group of 77G-77, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( World Bank ), International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ), International Development Association ( IDA ), International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD ), International Finance Corporation ( IFC ), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Labour Organization ( ILO ), International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), Intelsat ( nonsignatory user ), Interpol, International Olympic Commission ( IOC ), International Telecommunication UnionITU, Mekong Group, Non-Aligned Movement ( NAM ), Permanent Court of Arbitration ( PCA ), United Nations, United Nations Convention on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ), United Nations Industrial Development Organization ( UNIDO ), Universal Postal Union ( UPU ), World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization ( WHO ), World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ), World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ), World Tourism Organization, World Trade Organization ( observer ).

Libya is a member of ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, AU, CAEU, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHRC ( suspended ), UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, UNWTO and UNHABITAT.

Malta is member of C, CE, EBRD, ECE, EU ( member from 1 May 2004 ), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM ( observer ), ISO, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

25. 4 % of Nepal's land area, or about is covered with forest according to FAO figures from 2005.

FAO estimates that around 9. 6 % of Nepal's forest cover consists of primary forest which is relatively intact.

About 12. 1 % Nepal's forest is classified as protected while about 21. 4 % is conserved according to FAO.

The following table is based on the ISSCAAP classification ( International Standard Statistical Classification of Aquatic Animals and Plants ) used by the FAO for the purposes of collecting and compiling fishery statistics.

Turkmenistan is affiliated to the CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat ( nonsignatory user ), IOC, IOM ( observer ), ISO ( correspondent ), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO ( observer )

Ertharin Cousin is the current Executive Director, appointed jointly by the UN Secretary General and the Director-General of the FAO for a five-year term.

According to FAO statistics, the total number of commercial fishermen and fish farmers is estimated to be 38 million.

It is defined by the FAO as including recreational, subsistence and commercial fishing, and the harvesting, processing, and marketing sectors.

FAO reports that China is the top duck market in 2004 followed by Vietnam and other South East Asian countries.

The FAO reported that the world production of lentils for calendar year 2009 was 3. 917 million metric tonnes, primarily coming from Canada, India, Turkey and the United States.

In 2004, FAO reported that 80. 6 % of the world ’ s cobia production was by primarily China and Taiwan. FAO After China and Taiwan, Vietnam is the third largest producer of farmed cobia in the world where production was estimated at 1500 tonnes in 2008.

In both the FAO soil classification and the USA soil taxonomy, a histosol is a soil consisting primarily of organic materials.

By chance, Josh meets the company's owner, Mr. MacMillan ( Robert Loggia ), checking out the products at FAO Schwarz, and impresses him with both his extensive knowledge of current toys and his happy-go-lucky childlike enthusiasm.

* LinKS, a FAO project on biodiversity, gender and knowledge

" Other critics of the FAO data point out that they do not distinguish between forest types, and that they are based largely on reporting from forestry departments of individual countries, which do not take into account unofficial activities like illegal logging.

The Alliance was founded by the Rome based food agencies-the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ), UN World Food Programme ( WFP ), International Fund for Agriculture Fund for Development ( IFAD ),-and Bioversity International.

Some of them are important commercial fishery species, notably small yellow croaker with reported landings of 218, 00 – 407, 000 tonnes in 2000 – 2009 ; based on the FAO fishery statistics from 2009, it was the 25th most important fishery species worldwide.

However, based on the statistics from the FAO of the United Nations, Thailand is the largest exporting country of dried cassava, with a total of 77 % of world export in 2005.

In 1985, Christiana Companies, a San Diego, California based company, owned FAO Schwarz for just one year.

The Joint FAO / WHO expert committee on food additives states that, " based on the information available, it is inadvisable to use carrageenan or processed eucheuma seaweed in infant formulas ".

According to the FAO, fisheries management should be based explicitly on political objectives, ideally with transparent priorities.

In most countries fisheries management rules should be based on the internationally agreed, though non-binding, Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, agreed at a meeting of the U. N .' s Food and Agriculture Organization FAO session in 1995.

In 2003, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization ( FAO ), based in Rome, appointed former Congresswoman Clayton as an Assistant Director-General, responsible for tracking progress in the FAO efforts to increase agricultural productivity worldwide and to help reduce hunger and poverty in the world.

These texts are drawn up by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an organization that is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) and the World Health Organization ( WHO ).

On October 16, 2001 Gil accepted his nomination to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) of the United Nations, having promoted the organization before his appointment.

* FAO Report ( 1995 ) " Sorghum and millets in human nutrition "

The Fishery Manager's Guidebook issued in 2009 by the FAO of the United Nations, advises that the precautionary approach or principle should be applied when " ecosystem resilience and human impact ( including reversibility ) are difficult to forecast and hard to distinguish from natural changes.

FIAN was involved prominently in the development of the human rights protection system, for instance in the strengthened procedure of State ’ s and parallel reporting on economic, social, and cultural human rights in the UN human rights system ; the elaboration of the UN General Comment No. 12 on the Right to Food in 1999 as the most authoritative legal interpretation of the right to food in international law ; and the adoption of the “ Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food ” by the FAO member states in 2004.