TOPICS

For this lecture, we invited Mr. Keito Mitsugi, who served as Deputy Director-General (No. 2) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome for four and a half years until December 2020, to speak about the FAO’s mission and activities. 

At the beginning of the class, before delving into the topic of the FAO, we briefly reviewed the United Nations system and established a shared understanding of the reality that the UN faces a wide range of challenges.

Regarding the FAO, it was explained that the organization operates under the strategic framework of the “Four Betters” (better environment, better life, better production, and better nutrition). The FAO publishes an annual report titled “Food Security and Nutrition in the World,” in which food accessibility is highlighted as a key issue. 

This encompasses both the lack of food and the lack of cash to purchase it, as well as the inability to achieve a so-called “healthy diet.” Malnutrition, in turn, encompasses three challenges: undernutrition, obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies. Furthermore, the report identifies environmental issues, economic crises, and conflicts as the three major causes of the global food crisis. Regarding conflict, the war between Ukraine and Russia was cited as an example, and an explanation was provided regarding the extent to which a war between two major agricultural nations contributes negatively to the global food crisis.

Next, the topic of deforestation was addressed. A YouTube video was shown illustrating how deforestation has progressed over the past half-century, revealing the reality that environmental destruction is advancing at a faster pace than previously thought. Although one-third of the Earth’s land area is covered by forests, statistics show that deforestation is particularly pronounced in Africa and South America. While Asia shows a trend toward increased forest cover, this is reportedly due solely to China’s afforestation efforts. Additionally, the current situation was described: as production of cocoa, coffee, rubber, palm oil, and other crops increases, forests are being cleared to secure the land needed for cultivation.