What is the FAO programme for the use of retired experts?

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In this section:  Small-scale irrigation for sub-Saharan African farmers  Interview with Oscar Fugalli, retired Forest Resources expert  Costs of FAO Partnership Programmes

The programme allows national retired experts and retired FAO and UN staff members to return to work for no more than six months in each calendar year, for an honorarium not exceeding US$100 a day. Experts work in the field or at headquarters. If travel is involved in their assignment, FAO meets the costs, including transportation and daily subsistence allowance at the normal UN rates.

For many reluctant retirees, the programme offers the chance to continue their lifelong dedication to FAO's work. As Oscar Fugalli, former Forestry Director, says, "I enjoy feeling part of the active world, and being able to maintain contacts keeps me alive." For FAO, it opens up a huge pool of otherwise untapped human resources.

In some fields, retirees also fill a crucial skills gap. According to Anthony Whitehead, Senior Officer in FAO's Food Quality Liaison Group, "There is no surplus of experts in food quality control, so retirees are an invaluable resource for us". Among the retired experts recently used by his group are an ex-director of a major Food and Drug Administration Laboratory in the United States and a previously high-ranking official in the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service. Both experts produced materials to help developing countries improve their food quality control standards.

More than 750 retired experts have collaborated with FAO since the launch of the programme in 1994. Their areas of expertise include: small-scale irrigation, communications, marine fisheries and aquaculture management, mathematical modelling, land tenure and many others.