Jacques Diouf is the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). He was Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations, Secretary-General of the Central Bank for West African States in Dakar and Special Adviser to the Governor of the Central Bank. Dr. Diouf was also a member of the Senegalese Parliament, serving as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Friendship Parliamentary Group, and was Secretary of State for Science and Technology in the Government.
An Era of Unprecedented Opportunity?
The world is experiencing a dramatic rise in food prices. It began gradually in 2006 and has now escalated into a massive surge. It has caused hunger, protests, riots and even fears for international security. Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries have been hardest hit but the problem is global. Reports of the impact of dearer food on the poor in many developing countries have led to calls for international action to reverse the slide towards increasing poverty and malnutrition.
Food Security and the Challenge of the MDGs: The Road Ahead
In their solemn Millennium Declaration of 2000, world leaders committed themselves to spare no effort to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world's people who suffer from poverty and hunger. Just seven years remain for us to meet that momentous challenge.