Job vacancies at FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a Specialized Agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO serves both developed and developing countries, and acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. In addition FAO is a source of knowledge and information, and supports developing countries and countries in transition to modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices, ensuring good nutrition and food security for all.

Watch the video below to learn about FAO’s strategic objectives.

Career at FAO

FAO offers a dynamic and multicultural work environment; staff from over 100 countries specializing in diverse fields provide a truly international workplace. As of 31 December 2015, FAO employed 1738 professional staff and 1510 support staff. Approximately 60 percent are based at headquarters in Rome, while the remainder work in offices worldwide. During the last 15 years, the proportion of women in the professional staff category has nearly doubled, from 19 percent to 37 percent.

FAO offers great staff development opportunities, including group training, workshops and individual training courses. FAO also uses a performance management module which helps staff members achieve their yearly goals and encourages career growth within the organization.

Since FAO’s work is global our staff should be too; that is why FAO has a staff mobility programme which enables and encourages staff to move around both geographically and to different functions within their duty station.

FAO's activities comprise five main areas:

Putting information within reach and supporting the transition to sustainable agriculture. FAO serves as a knowledge network. We use the expertise of our staff - agronomists, foresters, fisheries and livestock specialists, nutritionists, social scientists, economists, statisticians and other professionals - to collect, analyse and disseminate data that aid development.

Strengthening political will and sharing policy expertise. FAO lends its years of experience to member countries in devising agricultural policy, supporting planning, drafting effective legislation and creating national strategies to achieve rural development and hunger alleviation goals. We advocate for the implementation of these policies and programmes, encouraging sufficient financial resources to be made available, the right organizational structures to be in place, and importantly, ensuring adequate human capacities.

Bolstering public-private collaboration to improve smallholder agriculture. As a neutral forum, FAO provides the setting where rich and poor nations can come together to build common understanding. We also engage the food industry and non-profits in providing support and services to farmers and facilitate greater public and private investments in strengthening the food sector

On any given day, dozens of policy-makers and experts from around the globe convene at headquarters or in our field offices to forge agreements on major food and agriculture issues.

Bringing knowledge to the field. Our breadth of knowledge is put to the test in thousands of field projects throughout the world. FAO mobilizes and manages millions of dollars provided by industrialized countries, development banks and other sources to make sure the projects achieve their goals. In crisis situations, we work side-by-side with the World Food Programme and other humanitarian agencies to protect rural livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives.

Supporting countries prevent and mitigate risks. FAO develops mechanisms to monitor and warn about multi-hazard risks and threats to agriculture, food and nutrition. We are there to inform countries on successful risk reduction measures that they can include in all policies related to agriculture. When need arises, we make sure disaster response plans are coordinated at all levels (source: www.fao.org).