What does FAO mean?

FAO stands for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to eliminate hunger, improve food security and promote sustainable agriculture.

FAO was established in 1945 and is one of the UN's specialized agencies.

What does FAO stand for?

The acronym FAO comes from:

F – Food
A – Agriculture
O – Organization

Its complete name is Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

What does FAO do?

FAO works to build a world where people have reliable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.

Its work covers:

Food security
Agriculture
Fisheries
Forestry
Nutrition
Rural development
Food safety
Sustainable agriculture
Climate-resilient food systems
Ending hunger

FAO describes its central goal as achieving food security for all and ensuring that people have regular access to enough high-quality food for active and healthy lives.

Is FAO part of the United Nations?

Yes. FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

However, FAO is not simply a department of the UN Secretariat. Like other specialized agencies, it has its own governance structure and membership while maintaining a formal relationship with the UN system.

Where does FAO work?

FAO works in more than 130 countries worldwide. It supports governments and partners in developing policies and programmes related to agriculture, food systems and rural development.

Its activities can range from helping farmers and rural communities to supporting governments with food policies and agricultural development.

What is FAO's role in food security?

Food security is one of FAO's most important areas of work.

FAO helps countries improve agricultural productivity, strengthen food systems, improve nutrition and reduce rural poverty.

It also supports sustainable management of natural resources such as land, water, forests and fisheries.

Is FAO only about farming?

No.

Although agriculture is central to its work, FAO has a much broader mandate.

It works across the entire agrifood system, including food production, processing, distribution, nutrition and food safety.

FAO also works on climate change, biodiversity, rural livelihoods, fisheries and forestry.

What jobs are available at FAO?

FAO employs professionals from many backgrounds.

Examples include:

Agricultural specialists
Economists
Food-security experts
Nutrition specialists
Environmental scientists
Fisheries experts
Forestry specialists
Data analysts
Project managers
IT professionals
Communications specialists
Administrative professionals

Therefore, people searching for FAO jobs should not assume that they need to be farmers or agricultural scientists.

For anyone searching “What does FAO mean?”, “What does FAO stand for?”, or “What is FAO?”, the short answer is:

FAO means Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, a UN specialized agency focused on food security, agriculture, nutrition and sustainable food systems.