FAO in Review: The roots of FAO and what’s changed in six years
Jakarta, Indonesia - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu take group photo with FAO Indonesia staff during his visit to Indonesia.
©FAO/Oscar Pardomuan
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is an Organization firmly rooted in its Basic Texts, including the FAO Constitution and General Rules of the Organization, simultaneously it is ever evolving and consistently realigning itself to be more responsive to global and local needs.
This transformation throughout the past six years initially began under the umbrella of the 4 Es: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Extraordinary and Excellence. Now, in QU Dongyu’s second term as Director-General, that transformation continues to be guided by the 4 Rs: Recovery from the pandemic and conflicts, Reform of FAO’s systems to be fit for purpose, Rebuild of FAO’s network and capacity and Renaissance of FAO for a better future, building on the solid foundations laid in his first term.
These principles are all aimed at enhancing the Organization’s ability to deliver on its important mandate, leaving no one behind.
Under the leadership of the Director-General, throughout the past six years, FAO has undergone significant evolution, transitioning from a centralized institution into a more agile, modern, and decentralized Organization – more fit for purpose, while respecting the roots and integrity of its history.
Rules-based Organization and repositioning of FAO’s structure
Over the past six years the Organization has continued to move forward as One FAO.
FAO's leadership has emphasized the importance of maintaining its rules-based structure while adapting to the changing global landscape. The strong focus on FAO’s Basic Texts serves as the foundation for this work, defining the Organization's structure, decision-making processes, and operational guidelines.
One of the most significant changes has been the repositioning from a predominantly centralized structure. This shift includes a reorganization of the country office network, crucial for delivering FAO’s mission at the ground level. The Organization undertook a detailed review of its decentralized offices, aiming to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
The review process began with consultations at regional ministerial conferences, emphasizing five overarching principles to guide the adjustments and introduce four new country office models that better meet the challenges of delivering FAO’s work in a rapidly changing world.
These changes, endorsed by its governing bodies, the FAO Conference and the FAO Council, are part of a broader vision to position FAO strategically within the UN system and ensure that its presence at the country level is more flexible, agile, and aligned with the Organization’s Strategic Framework.
Rome, Italy - Fourth Edition of the FAO Open Day.
©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto
Merit-based staff recruitment and transparency
An important aspect of FAO’s journey has been its steadfast commitment to a balanced, open, and merit-based recruitment process. This approach ensures that the Organization attracts the best talent from around the world while also promoting internal staff development and engagement.
The Organization has also continued its efforts to streamline recruitment and talent acquisition processes, making it easier to fill vacant positions with skilled professionals. This focus on attracting and retaining the best talent is aligned with FAO’s long-term goals of maintaining a high-performing, dynamic workforce.
Rigorous, transparent, and competitive recruitment procedures in place, reflect FAO's dedication to ensuring a workforce and leadership that drive the Organization's goals forward. Through staff-oriented initiatives such as the Employee Recognition Awards and the Intergenerational Dialogue, FAO promotes engagement between employees at all levels, while also recognizing those for outstanding performance.
Updated infrastructure and sustainability efforts
Over the last few years, FAO has invested heavily in improving its physical infrastructure, not just at headquarters, but across regional and country offices.
The past six years have seen several refurbishments and renovations at headquarters, including new and updated catering facilities throughout the building and the renovated childcare centre.
One of the most notable projects in this area was the establishment of a rooftop hydroponic vegetable garden, reflecting a growing commitment to creating an organizational environment that is modern, energy-efficient, and aligned with global sustainability goals.
The Regional Office of Latin America and the Caribbean (RLC) underwent remodeling of its building in Santiago de Chile.
In line with its Corporate Environmental Responsibility Strategy 2020-2030, the Organization has made strides in reducing its environmental footprint, making its buildings more energy-efficient by installing solar systems, introducing greening initiatives, and upgrading meeting rooms.
A Global Food and Agriculture Museum and Network (GFAMN) is also being created at FAO headquarters, supported by the generous contributions of its host country, Italy.
Left/Right: Rome's rooftop festival, group tour. ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
General view of the new catering areas on the 8th floor B, and the terrace gardens, FAO headquarters. © FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto
Food waste reduction initiative
A major innovation at FAO has been the food waste reduction programme aimed at promoting sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of waste. Given that nearly 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted globally each year, FAO has taken a leadership role in demonstrating how even small actions within its own Organization can have a larger impact.
Food waste stations have been set up across the bars and cafeterias, encouraging staff and visitors to sort their leftovers into specific categories. The waste is tracked using scales and real-time data displays, providing valuable insights into food waste patterns.
The initiative has not only helped FAO reduce its environmental impact but also served as an example of how organizations can embed sustainability into their operations. FAO’s efforts have garnered attention, with several regional offices expressing interest in replicating this model in their own offices.
Building One FAO
The Director-General gives paramount importance to the Organization working together as One FAO, emphasizing collaboration across the Organization to address global food and agricultural challenges.
To this end, for the first time in FAO’s history, the Director-General inaugurated an annual Global Working Conference of FAO Representatives (FAORs) in 2023, which brings together all FAORs in one geographic location for a week to strengthen alignment between decentralized offices and headquarters, ensuring a unified approach to emerging country-level opportunities and challenges. To further provide an opportunity for colleagues to see firsthand FAO’s work within the regions, in December 2024 the Second Global Working Conference was held at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the Third Conference in 2025 will be held at the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa.
The Director-General has initiated a reorganization of FAO’s Regional Offices, aligning them more closely with headquarters to ensure optimal support for Members at the country level.
By fostering collaboration, improving communication, and enhancing accountability, FAO is strengthening its capacity to serve Members better. The ongoing efforts to modernize the Organization ensure that FAO can respond effectively to the world’s agricultural and food security needs, working as One FAO to drive sustainable and equitable global development.
Bangkok, Thailand: FAO Director-General QU Dongyu presents a gift of his calligraphy to Jong-Jin Kim,
Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.
©FAO/Valeria Mongelli
Commitment to ethics and integrity
FAO has placed a strong emphasis on employee wellbeing, ensuring a positive work culture that fosters inclusivity and diversity. The Organization regularly conducts Employee Satisfaction Surveys to gather feedback on key aspects such as job satisfaction, workplace culture, and well-being. In response to the feedback from employees, FAO has launched initiatives aimed at improving work conditions, including the introduction of a new medical insurance scheme for 2025–2029.
FAO has worked hard to cultivate a culture of integrity, inclusivity, and transparency. Efforts have been made to raise awareness about integrity risks and improve governance within the organization. Through the work of the Inspector General, Ombudsman, Ethics Office, and Office of Internal Oversight, FAO has focused on strengthening its ethical framework, preventing sexual harassment and abuse of authority, and promoting fair treatment of all employees. These efforts contribute to maintaining a safe and supportive work environment for all staff members.
The integrity and reputation of FAO’s operations largely depends on how successfully the Organization embeds an integrity driven culture and raising awareness about integrity risks that can impact FAO continues to be a priority. Various missions have been undertaken by the Ethics Office to Decentralized Offices for targeted training sessions on various topics including, but not limited to, conflict-of-interest risks, civility in the workplace, and preventing harassment and abuse of authority.
Over the past six years, FAO has undergone significant organizational changes that have redefined its capacity to address global challenges. The Organization's commitment to modernizing its structure, improving infrastructure, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce has positioned it to better serve its members and contribute to the global transformation of agrifood systems. Through these changes, FAO has become a more agile, responsive, and sustainable Organization that continues to lead by example.
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What is the real FAO culture?
The success of FAO is built on the talent, dedication, and creativity of its workforce and the Director-General’s focus continues to be on fostering a dynamic, diverse, inclusive, and high-performing culture, ensuring that the Organization has the right people in the right roles at the right time.
FAO continues to hone efforts on streamlining and improving its talent acquisition and recruitment processes. By addressing gaps and bottlenecks to speed up the process, the Organization ensures vacant positions are filled and technical capacity to deliver on its mandate is retained.
FAO is also deploying more targeted outreach strategies to increase the diversity of the workforce, with a particular emphasis on addressing gender parity at the senior levels, as well as geographic representation.
FAO is a place where employees can grow and flourish professionally through a culture that embraces respect, understanding, and inclusivity.
Through valuable experience, such as working on the World Food Forum, FAO continues to be a place where young people are entrusted with the responsibility that plants the seeds for their personal and professional growth.
FAO continues to use the rich institutional memory of former Deputy Directors-General, as well as retired FAO senior managers globally, with their wealth of knowledge based on decades of experience.
FAO has undergone significant transformation in the past six years, transitioning to a more agile, modern, and decentralized Organization. FAO has invested heavily in improving its physical infrastructure and made significant strides in its various sustainability initiatives. Through a culture of respect, inclusivity, and transparency a dynamic, diverse, and high-performing culture has been fostered. These efforts have helped the Organization increase its impact, especially at the country level, to and better support its Members to respond effectively to the world's food and agricultural challenges. The Organization is now optimally placed to efficiently, effectively and coherently support Members in, transforming their agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, and to ensure the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life - leaving no one behind.