FAO's Origins

MAC/WFY

Page-4

0230_553559_05_cha01

194570. Early Attempts: FAO's Pioneering Work

by which this can be done'. It required `imagination and firm will' on the part of
governments and people to make use of that knowledge.

The declaration recognized that

The first cause of malnutrition and hunger is poverty. It is useless to produce
more food unless men and nations provide the markets to absorb it. There
must be an expansion of the whole world economy to provide the purchasing
power sufficient to maintain an adequate diet for all. With full employment
in all countries, enlarged industrial production, the absence of exploitation,
an increasing flow of trade within and between countries, an orderly manage-
ment of domestic and international investment and currencies, and sustained
internal and international economic equilibrium, the food which is produced
can be made available to all people.

The primary responsibility for ensuring that people had the food needed for life
and health lay with each nation. But each nation could fully achieve that goal
only if all work together. The declaration ended:

The first steps towards freedom from want of food must not await the final
solution of all other problems. Each advance made in one field will strengthen
and quicken advance in all others. Work already begun must be continued.
Once the war has been won decisive steps can be taken. We must make
ready now.

It became clear at an early stage of the conference that there was general agree-

ment that a permanent organization in the field of food and agriculture should
be established. It was also agreed that the organization should act as a centre of
information and advice on both agricultural and nutritional questions, and that it
should maintain a service of international statistics. The conference recommended
the establishment of an Interim Commission in Washington, DC to draw up a
detailed plan for the permanent organization for the approval of governments
and authorities represented at the conference.

After two and a half years of preparatory work by the Interim Commission, FAO

was established at the first FAO Conference in Quebec, Canada in October 1945
and Sir John Boyd Orr, `that brave persistent Scottish prophet, that pioneer in
nutrition, that indefatigable researcher, that prophet of greater human welfare',
was elected as its first director-general (FAO, 1945). An executive committee of 15
members was also elected. Washington, DC was designated as the temporary seat
of FAO but it was agreed that the permanent location should be at the United
Nations on the understanding that that would also be the location of ECOSOC.
Eventually, ECOSOC was placed in Geneva, Switzerland and FAO was located
in Rome, Italy, where it inherited the library of the International Institute of
Agriculture.

In his address to the conference after his election, Boyd Orr gave an indication

of the vision of the `great world scheme' he had for FAO, He noted that in the past

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Useful links	FAO's Origins MAC/WFY Page-4 0230_553559_05_cha01 4 194570. Early Attempts: FAO's Pioneering Work by which this can be done'. It required `imagination and firm will' on the part of governments and people to make use of that knowledge. The declaration recognized that The first cause of malnutrition and hunger is poverty. It is useless to produce more food unless men and nations provide the markets to absorb it. There must be an expansion of the whole world economy to provide the purchasing power sufficient to maintain an adequate diet for all. With full employment in all countries, enlarged industrial production, the absence of exploitation, an increasing flow of trade within and between countries, an orderly manage- ment of domestic and international investment and currencies, and sustained internal and international economic equilibrium, the food which is produced can be made available to all people. The primary responsibility for ensuring that people had the food needed for life and health lay with each nation. But each nation could fully achieve that goal only if all work together. The declaration ended: The first steps towards freedom from want of food must not await the final solution of all other problems. Each advance made in one field will strengthen and quicken advance in all others. Work already begun must be continued. Once the war has been won decisive steps can be taken. We must make ready now. It became clear at an early stage of the conference that there was general agree- ment that a permanent organization in the field of food and agriculture should be established. It was also agreed that the organization should act as a centre of information and advice on both agricultural and nutritional questions, and that it should maintain a service of international statistics. The conference recommended the establishment of an Interim Commission in Washington, DC to draw up a detailed plan for the permanent organization for the approval of governments and authorities represented at the conference. After two and a half years of preparatory work by the Interim Commission, FAO was established at the first FAO Conference in Quebec, Canada in October 1945 and Sir John Boyd Orr, `that brave persistent Scottish prophet, that pioneer in nutrition, that indefatigable researcher, that prophet of greater human welfare', was elected as its first director-general (FAO, 1945). An executive committee of 15 members was also elected. Washington, DC was designated as the temporary seat of FAO but it was agreed that the permanent location should be at the United Nations on the understanding that that would also be the location of ECOSOC. Eventually, ECOSOC was placed in Geneva, Switzerland and FAO was located in Rome, Italy, where it inherited the library of the International Institute of Agriculture. In his address to the conference after his election, Boyd Orr gave an indication of the vision of the `great world scheme' he had for FAO, He noted that in the past back to top Next page
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