Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations programs seek to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of food and agricultural products; to promote rural development; and, by these means, to eliminate hunger. FAO's efforts to eliminate the Mediterranean fruit fly from the Caribbean Basin benefit the U.S. citrus industry. Likewise, U.S. cattle raisers have a direct stake in FAO efforts to eliminate a tick found in the Caribbean that carries a threatening cattle disease.

The FAO was founded in 1945 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. In 1951 the headquarters were moved from Washington,_D.C., United States to Rome, Italy. As of November 25, 2000, it had 181 members (180 states and the European Union, List of FAO members (http://www.fao.org/UNFAO/Bodies/member-e.htm)).

The main activities concentrate on four areas:

• Developing assistance to developing countries.
• Information about nutrition, food, agriculture, forestry and fishery.
• Advice to governments .
• Neutral forum to discuss and formulate policy on major food and agriculture issues.

External link

• Website of the FAO (http://www.fao.org/)