From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 2, May 1999.

Dr Jacques Diouf, the Director General of FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, made a brief stop over in Tonga on April 23–24.

He met with Ministers of Agriculture from the Southwest Pacific who were gathering in Tonga for their third biennial meeting, which was officially opened by the Queen Regent, HM Queen Halaevalu Mata‘aho on April 26.

Dr Jacques told the press that the biggest problem facing his organization today was trying to provide food for about 800 million people in the developing world who suffer from chronic malnutrition.

The FAO with an annual budget of $650 million is hopeful that it will be able to fulfill its mandate, which is, “to ensure humanity’s Freedom from Hunger.” The mandate was proclaimed by the United Nations since the inception of the FAO in 1945.

Dr Jacques believed that hunger could be eliminated from this world, “but there is a lack of political will among world leaders, for those who have the technology and the resources to share them with others so that they can produce more food. That is why we had a meeting which was attended by 112 heads of states and agreed to work toward cutting in half the number of starving people in the world by 2015.”

Over-eating

With regards to Tonga’s situation, where there is a tendency for people to eat too much, Dr Jacques said that they had tried to solve Tonga’s problem by holding workshops for nutritionists, “because it not the quantity, but the quality of food you eat is important.”

Dr Jacques said that the FAO is the world centre for knowledge on agriculture. They collect, process and dis­- seminate information on the state of food and agriculture, and fisheries in the world. They also assist countries in the preparation of feasibility studies of project proposals, and every year they prepare $3.5 billion dollars of projects, which are financed by financial institutions such as the World Bank.