FAO in Review: From post-war resolve to a shared future of food security

Through Peace and Nature, artwork by Pablo Atchugarry is on display at the FAO Food and Agriculture Museum and Network (FAO MuNe), FAO headquarters.
©FAO

At 80, FAO’s story is one of continuity, adaptation, and enduring purpose. From its founding in the shadow of global conflict to its present role at the centre of agrifood systems transformation, FAO’s history reflects a persistent belief: that freedom from want is a basic right, and that the right to food a basic human right. Freedom from hunger is a moral imperative and a foundation for peace and prosperity.

Past: A Constitution born of crisis

FAO emerged from the ruins of the Second World War, when hunger, scarcity, and rural devastation threatened global recovery. Food insecurity was widely recognized as a root cause of instability, and agricultural reconstruction was essential to rebuilding nations. Against this backdrop, 42 founding Members met in Quebec City in 1945 to adopt the Constitution of FAO, establishing the Organization as the first specialized agency of the United Nations system.

The Constitution and the Organization’s Basic Texts articulated an ambitious and enduring mandate: to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, enhance the lives of rural populations, and contribute to the expansion of the world economy while ensuring humanity’s freedom from hunger. These founding principles were not abstract ideals; they were practical commitments to cooperation, information-sharing, and technical assistance, anchored in the belief that food security is inseparable from peace.

FAO Constitution
© FAO/Luigi Spaventa

In its earliest years, FAO operated from Washington, D.C., building institutional capacity and supporting post-war agricultural recovery. In 1951, the Organization moved its headquarters to Rome, symbolically and practically linking FAO to the long tradition of international agricultural cooperation represented by the former International Institute of Agriculture. This relocation marked the consolidation of FAO as a permanent global institution with a truly international identity.

In his foreword to a publication celebrating FAO’s 80^th anniversary Director-General QU Dongyu noted: “The founders saw that FAO would be essential to the United Nations family and the world. This speaks to good institutional design: a visionary 1940s pragmatism that combined moral purpose with inclusive multilateralism.”

Left/Right: Italy 1959. The FAO Conference designates 1961 as the World Seed Year.
© Photo by courtesy PUBLIFOTO, Rom
Yugoslavia 1954. Underground water resources for irrigation.
©FAO/J. Dabell

Cold War context: Independence and evolution

FAO’s formative decades unfolded during the Cold War, a period defined by ideological division and geopolitical tension. Yet FAO’s development demonstrates the strength of its independent, technical mandate. As documented in exhibits and other material preserved in FAOMuNe – inaugurated by H.E. President Sergio Mattarella of the Republic of Italy and FAO DG QU on October 16 as part of the  World Food Day 2025 celebrations – the Organization served as a rare forum where countries across political divides collaborated on shared challenges related to food, agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.

FAO maintained its role as a neutral, Member-owned organization, guided by evidence, data, professional expertise, and rule-based governance. Its work during this period –from agricultural reconstruction and rural development to early global data collection – laid the foundations for modern international cooperation on agrifood systems. This independence allowed FAO not only to survive but to expand its relevance, even as global politics grew increasingly polarized and complicated.

General view of the FAO Food and Agriculture Museum and Network (FAO MuNe), entrance.
©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

Present: An enduring mandate in action

Eighty years on, FAO’s mandate remains strikingly consistent with its founding vision, even as the challenges it addresses have grown more complex. Hunger and malnutrition persist, the climate crisis threatens agrifood systems, and inequalities continue to shape access to resources. FAO responds to these challenges through a combination of Member-led processes, including the Council Committees on Constitutional and Legal Matters (CCLM), Finance Committee and Programme Committee, its professional expertise, and technical leadership.

Central to this work are FAO’s main technical committees, which provide inclusive, intergovernmental platforms for policy dialogue and standard-setting. Bodies such as the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), the Committee on Forestry (COFO), and the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP) ensure that Members guide FAO’s normative and strategic direction. Through these committees, FAO translates its constitutional mandate into concrete guidance, frameworks, and voluntary instruments that shape national and global action.

FAO provides technical expertise and helps Members implement the Codex Alimentarius, the set of international food standards that protect consumer health and promote fairness in food trade. 

Supporting these processes is FAO’s deep reservoir of professional expertise - economists, agronomists, nutritionists, fisheries and forestry specialists, statisticians, and policy analysts - whose work underpins evidence-based decision-making. This combination of technical excellence and inclusive governance has allowed FAO to remain both authoritative and accountable.

The FAO at 75 publication captured this continuity by tracing how the Organization has evolved while remaining anchored in its original mission. The FAO at 80 milestone builds on this narrative, emphasizing progress while reaffirming the principles that have guided FAO since 1945.