FAO is not a financing institution and cannot directly finance or provide technical assistance to private citizens’ business initiatives or projects in the agriculture domain. FAO’s mandate is that of helping developing countries modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all.

In order to do so, FAO mostly works with governments and institutional actors (e.g. Agriculture Ministries) but it also establishes partnerships with a variety of non-state actors like NGOs, research institutions and the private sector (please visit FAO Partnerships website for detailed information).

TeleFood is an annual campaign of broadcasts, concerts, sporting events and other activities to raise awareness of the problem of hunger and to collect funds to finance small projects that provide sustainable solutions. By finacing grassroot-level micro projects, the TeleFood Special Fund helps families and small-scale farmers communities produce more food and generate cash income, for better access to food. Project requests can originate from a number of sources (local NGOs, farmers’ and villagers’ associations, schools, central and local governments, etc.), and should be submitted to the FAO Representative in the interested country (click here for a list of FAO Representative offices around the world).

The budget of each project does not exceed US$ 10 000 and a duration of 12 months. Click here to access the Guidelines for Projects to be funded by TeleFood Special Fund.

For further information please refer to the contacts below:

• Telefood campaign: Telefood[@]fao.org 
• FAO Partnership : FAO-partnerships[@]fao.org
• Partnerships with Civil Society: FAO-CivilSociety[@]fao.org
• Partnerships with the private sector: FAO-private-sector[@]fao.org