UN food agency caught in Trump administration’s crosshairs

The Food and Agriculture Organization is the latest United Nations agency to face pressure from the Trump administration to reform into a conservative mold and immediately halt initiatives that do not align with an “America First” foreign policy. At a meeting of FAO’s council in Rome this week, the United States laid out its vision for an FAO that brings the agency “back to its core mandate.” To do this, FAO must first “use clear and accurate language in its work and programming that recognizes that women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,” according to Rodney Hunter, interim chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Mission to U.N. agencies in Rome. Further, Hunter said, FAO must ensure that its work does not include any diversity, equity, and inclusion policies — which, in the Trump administration’s view, “diminish the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services.” The U.S. also took aim at FAO’s work on climate change — a growing concern within the agency as agriculture is among the sectors most affected by global warming. “The United States cannot accept an unnecessary and distracting focus on climate in FAO’s work,” Hunter said on Tuesday at FAO’s headquarters in Rome. “Instead of general references to climate change as a policy matter or root cause of threats, the United States maintains that FAO can be more effective if it helps farmers adapt to specific environmental threats – like land degradation, drought, and extreme heat — while advocating for sensible environmental protections such as increasing access to affordable, reliable and secure energy; enhancing resilience; and disaster planning.” Finally, Hunter added, the U.S. no longer affirms the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals or agenda for achieving them by 2030, as “use of the SDGs to justify all manner of activities unrelated to development obscures the specificity necessary to overcome the globe’s toughest challenges, including tackling hunger.” The United States is the largest contributor to FAO’s budget. In 2024, FAO funds from the U.S. government totaled $317 million — about 14% of the agency’s total resources, according to an FAO spokesperson. But those contributions are now evaporating. U.S. funding cuts have resulted in 106 terminated projects with a total value of $348 million, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said in his opening address on Monday. As a result, 358 FAO staffers have been let go, with about 600 total slated to be cut. The programmatic and staffing cuts are expected to severely harm food security worldwide. For example, ending FAO’s agricultural support will make it harder for communities affected by climate disasters, economic shocks, and conflicts to produce their own food, which could increase their dependency on emergency food aid. The United States’ decisions have forced FAO to launch an organization-wide review of its portfolio in which it is assessing each individual program, Dongyu noted. “This has required difficult decisions, with project personnel reduced to the minimum required for project closure,” he said. “The programs most impacted address critical issues such as animal disease control, famine prevention, economic stability, and biosafety worldwide.” Still, he added, FAO remains “fully engaged in constructive dialogue with the government of the United States,” and is “committed to exploring solutions within our diversified resource mobilization strategy,” given the gap in funding. This week’s meeting in Rome is the last council session before FAO’s program of work and budget for the coming years is submitted for approval to the FAO ministerial conference in June. The agency presented “FAO@80: Proposals for Institutional Renewal” — which Hunter noted, the U.S. “does not support” — and he called for a “member-driven review process that produces practical and measurable reforms that improve the transparency, efficiency, and accountability of FAO’s operations.”