The Food and Agriculture Organization
The UN agency that leads the fight against hunger; its founding day is World Food Day.
What the paper can ask
- Founded 16 October 1945 in Quebec City; 194 members including the EU.
- Director-General: Qu Dongyu of China, since August 2019. (as of 23 Oct 2026)
- The Codex Alimentarius Commission (food standards) was set up by the FAO Conference in 1961 and became a joint FAO and WHO body that first met in 1963.
- Binay Ranjan Sen of India was Director-General from 1956 to 1967.
Why exams ask
Its headquarters city, founding date, and the day named after its founding are the usual questions.
The full story
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the UN specialised agency that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and farming. It was founded on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City, Canada, and later moved its headquarters to Europe. It has 194 members (193 countries plus the European Union). With WHO it runs the Codex Alimentarius food standards; it publishes the State of Food Security and Nutrition report.
Test yourself
1.The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN has its headquarters in which city?
Correct. FAO was founded on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City and is headquartered in Rome.
Not quite. FAO was founded on 16 October 1945 in Quebec City and is headquartered in Rome. It goes into your error book.