National Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Dr. Jose Graziano da Silva
Foreign Fellow, Elected 2014

Born in Urbana, Illinois, USA on 17 November 1949. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy (1972) and a Master's Degree in Rural Economics and Sociology (1974) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a Ph.D. in Economic Sciences (1980) from the State University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also has two post-Doctorate Degrees in Latin American Studies (University College of London) and Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz).

Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 2012 to date.

Professor, the State University of Campinas and Chair of the Master's and Doctoral Program in Economic Development, Space, and Environment at UNICAMP's Institute for Economics. Brazil's Extraordinary Minister of Food Security and Fight Against Hunger, 2003-04 and in charge of the implementation of the "Zero Hunger" Program ("Fome Zero"); Special Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, 2004-06; Head, FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and Assistant Director-General, FAO, 2006-11. As FAO Director-General, he is working to build consensus on food security-related issues. This includes actively supporting the Committee on World Food Security, the United Nations High-Level Task Force on Global Food Security (in which he serves as Vice-Chair) and the Zero Hunger Challenge launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Awards/Honours: Recipient of numerous awards and honours, including the Order of Rio Branco, bestowed by the Brazilian president; the Paulista Medal for Scientific and Technological Merit, conferred by the Sao Paulo State government; and the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Administration and Sociology Award (Prêmio SOBER).

Research Areas: Agronomy; rural development, food security, and agrarian economics

Address: Director General, Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy; [Tel: Off. (+39) 06 57051; Fax: (+39) 06 570 53152; Email: FAO-HQ@fao.org]