New FAO director aims to heal schisms, protect food prices
Graziano da Silva has both Italian and Brazilian citizenship
Brasilian José Graziano da Silva was named the new Director General of
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the first South American
to take that role. He has vowed to tackle food-price volatility.
In a narrow election, José Graziano da Silva was voted to head up
the UN organization that aims to stamp out world hunger. The
61-year-old economics professor has spent his career to date working in
the area of food security, agriculture and agrarian development, often
working side-by-side with unions.
Since 2006, Graziano da Silva has been a representative for Latin
America and the Caribbean at the FAO. In the past he has also been the
organization's acting Director General. He replaces outgoing three-term
director Jacques Diouf of Senegal.
Graziano da Silva has pledged to repair divisions that are plaguing
the FAO, which some fear could lead to paralysis within the
organization. The narrow election highlighted the split between donor
countries and developing countries at the Rome-based FAO.
Divided donor and developing countries
Speaking after the election, Graziano da Silva stressed his plans to
bridge that divide, saying the divisions are "part of daily life in the
FAO."
"There are differences that are not going to be swept away," he said.
"I was living day by day with these. We have to work on a minimum
consensus so this organization is not paralyzed by these divisions. I
hope I can forge agreements to get a minimum consensus."
Still, the new director-general said the organization has recently undergone some reform and that it is "on the right path."
 Graziano da Silva wants to bridge the divide between donor and developing countries"Now
it is a question of speeding up the process," he added. "We have to
take more intensive action, especially in the poorest countries."
Graziano da Silva, who has both Italian and Brazilian citizenship,
has gotten international recognition for Brazil's program to fight
hunger, "Fome Zero" (Zero Hunger). The project, which he instated during
his reign as food security minister, brought 24 million people out of
extreme poverty and reduced malnutrition by 25 percent. It concentrated
on involving civil society and creating equal rights for men and women.
Graziano da Silva said that in future, in addition to food-price
volatility, he expects the FAO to focus on food security, cross-border
disease, maintaining fish stocks in the world's oceans and climate
change.
Author: Rafael Belincanta/afp (jen)
Editor: Sarah Steffen
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15194321,00.html
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