Ethics in food and agriculture: views from FAO‡

Abstract

SummaryThis paper presents analysis of interviews conducted at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) during June to August 1999, which reveal the concerns behind the development of the Ethics in Food and Agriculture Program at FAO. Formal interviews with 103 staff members of all positions and across all divisions of FAO, revealed that although ethics as a word was not widely and openly discussed at FAO until the end of the 1990s, as indicated by the nature of the programmes and policies, the members had deep ethical motivation for their work. The results of the keyword analysis of the interviews are presented under the general issues of food, rural development, information, genetic modification, private sector and funding, environment, animal issues and personnel matters. Most of the interviewed staff saw ethics as the basis of the constitutional mandate, with the role of FAO being to promote global food security, balanced conservation, management and utilization of natural resources, and sustainable rural development. Information dissemination, and the need for a participatory approach were also raised as major issues by a third of the people interviewed.