In Quebec City, Canada, the first session of the newly created United Nations establishes the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a specialized UN agency. Washington D.C. is designated as a temporary FAO headquarters.

The Census creates guidelines to generate internationally comparable figures on variables defining the structure of agriculture. This Census helps countries to carry out their national agricultural censuses using standard international concepts, definitions and methodology.  

Following the fifth session of the General Conference in 1949 where Member States decided to move the offices of FAO to Rome, two ships, Saturnia and Vulcania, set sail from Washington in the early spring of 1951 with 76 families on board. 

The IPPC is an international agreement aimed at protecting the world's plant resources from pests. Adopted by the FAO Conference in 1951, the agreement entered into force in 1952. The Convention has been revised twice: in 1979 (entry into force: 1991), and in 1997 (entry into force: 2005), to take account of the increasing international trade and movement of agricultural products. In 1992, the IPPC Secretariat was established, hosted by FAO.

These Guiding Lines embrace the view that surplus commodities can be utilized for the promotion of economic development, special welfare distribution and emergency relief.  

The Special Fund is created and commences its activities in 1959, based on a total of contributions for that year of $26 million pledged by participating governments. During its first year of operation, FAO is responsible for the execution of approximately one third of the total activities of the Special Fund. 

The Campaign is a milestone for FAO, in that it significantly contributed to turning the Organization from a technical agency into a development organization. Launched with a five year mandate of raising global awareness about hunger, malnutrition and possible solutions to them, the Campaign is repeatedly extended until the early 1980s. 

FAO and the UN General Assembly adopt parallel resolutions that establish the World Food Programme to deliver urgent food aid in real time to affected areas.  

John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, at the World Food Congress. 

Created by FAO and WHO, the Codex Alimentarius Commission comes into full operation to establish international food standards. Codex Alimentarius is Latin for "food law" and its role as a coordinating mechanism for developing food standards is unquestioned. The published Codex is set to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade. 

The Second World Food Congress turns the spotlight of public attention onto ‘hunger and malnutrition’ in the world and on international efforts to eliminate it. The Congress reviews the state of hunger and malnutrition in the world and identifies areas of immediate action in line with FAO’s strategy. 

In 1968, the Sahelian region enters a period of drought that reaches crisis proportions in 1972. It is only when FAO sends its first assessment mission to the region that the extent of the disaster becomes apparent to the international community. FAO immediately delivers 20 000 tonnes of cereals and protective foods to the region. By 1975 over 1.5 million tonnes of grain has been sent. 

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is created in response to the 1974 World Food Conference recommendations. The focus of CFS is on increasing global grain production and stabilizing world grain markets on the assumption that these actions would be enough to ensure that all people everywhere had enough food to eat.  

The food crisis is reaching its peak at the very time of FAO's World Food Conference. The conference proposes to establish a world food bank ensuring access to around 10 million tonnes of stored grain, to found an International Fund for Agricultural Development, to improve tropical agriculture, and to set up a new food forecasting system that would provide early warning of future crises. 

The fourth World Food Survey finds that there had been an alarming increase in the number of countries experiencing declines in food production per person. Evidence from a number of countries reveals that 25% to 50% of young children are suffering from some form of malnutrition.  

The 20th session of the FAO Conference takes the unanimous decision of observing World Food Day annually on the 16th October, in honour of the founding of FAO. Its aims are to involve governments and people in the struggle to free the world from hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Given the importance that land has in rural economies, access to and control over it have been central to any development strategy. That is indeed the understanding when in 1979, the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) adopts the “Peasants' Charter” calling for securing access and control over land by the poor.

The Conference is held in Rome from 27 June to 6 July 1984. It is attended by the highest number of high-level delegates ever assembled to consider the issues facing the sector. The conferences leads to an agreement on long-term goals for fisheries.

The fifth World Food Survey notes that the number of hungry people is steadily increasing. To mitigate this rising trend of hunger, the survey proposes  food subsidies and nutritional education interventions.

FAO Conference approves a World Food Security Compact, which outlines a plan for achieving a comprehensive global food security system.

FAOSTAT (known as AGROSTAT until the mid-1990s) is an electronic edition of the FAO yearbooks and even now is considered the most comprehensive source of agricultural information and statistics.

The Declaration and Plan of Action on Nutrition is adopted at the International Conference on Nutrition where governments pledge to eliminate or substantially reduce a series of malnutrition-related conditions before the next millennium.

With contributions from external specialists, FAO produces the World Agriculture: towards 2010 report, a comprehensive study of natural and agricultural crop resources and livestock production.

FAO launches the SPFS. Endorsed by the World Food Summit in 1996, the SPFS aims to support low-income, food-deficit countries in their efforts to improve their national food security.

EMPRES is established to support countries in the fight against transboundary, animal and plant diseases.

Prepared to ensure sustainable use of living aquatic resources and adopted by over 170 countries, the Code provides principles of the sustainable management of fisheries and addresses the development of aquaculture.

The World Food Summit becomes a historic event, bringing together about 10 000 participants and providing a forum for debate on a critical issue facing world leaders in the new millennium: eradicating hunger.

The Declaration is adopted by 112 Heads or Deputy Heads of State and over 70 high-level representatives from other countries. The Declaration reaffirms the universal right to safe and nutritious food.

FAO's annual fundraising campaign, Telefood, is launched in coordination with World Food Day. The campaign aims at mobilizing resources for hunger eradication projects making significant impacts in different countries around the world.

FARISIS, first established in the ‘70s, is revamped to improve its use as a unique, global database of fisheries agreements. Elements of the Register have been used in elaborating international instruments in fisheries, in particular the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, adopted in November 1993.

At the request of the United Nations Secretary-General, FAO develops a strategy to combat chronic hunger in the Horn of Africa.

This legally binding Treaty supports the work of breeders and farmers everywhere and encourages sustainable agriculture through the equitable sharing of genetic material among plant breeders, farmers and research institutions.

The Right to Food Guidelines are adopted by the FAO Council after two years of intergovernmental negotiations mandated by the “World Food Summit: Five years later”.

Attended by 43 heads of state and 100 government ministers, the Conference assesses the impact of climate change and the biofuel boom on food security and food prices and adopts a resolution to increase assistance and investment in developing world agriculture.

The summit injects new urgency into the fight against hunger. Sixty heads of state and governments and 192 ministers unanimously adopt a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the world as soon as possible.

As the worst floods ever to hit Pakistan wipe out seed stocks and kills millions of livestock, FAO responds by distributing wheat seeds to half a million farming families in time for the planting season. An additional 235 000 families receive feed and medicine for their animals.

In a historic victory of veterinary science, FAO and OIE announce that thanks to a decades-long international cooperative effort, the fatal cattle disease, known as rinderpest, has successfully been eradicated from the natural environment.

The cornerstone of the Voluntary Guidelines states that responsible investment in agriculture and food systems "supports states' obligations regarding the progressive realization of the right to adequate food." The guidelines touch upon other important and at times contentious issues such as genetic resources, indigenous rights and climate change.

The Blue Growth Initiative is based on the premise that healthy ocean ecosystems are more productive and represent the only way to ensure sustainable ocean-based economies.

ICN2 brings together senior national policymakers from agriculture, health and other relevant ministries and agencies, with leaders of United Nations agencies. The main outcomes of the high-level ministerial conference are the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action.

The Partnership supports the process leading to the adoption of sustainable goals for soils to prevent soil erosion and degradation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting carbon sequestration and the sustainable use of agricultural inputs.

At the Millennium Summit, the largest gathering of world leaders in history, the UN Millennium Declaration is adopted. Nations committed to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with 2015 as the deadline.

FAO implements the IYS  in collaboration with governments and the secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The IYS aims to increase understanding of the importance of soil for food security.

FAO is nominated to implement the International Year of Pulses (IYP). The IYP aims to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses and their role in sustainable food production.

Succeeding the MDGs, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are new global objectives that aim to shape national development plans over the next 15 years. From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change and sustaining our natural resources, food and agriculture lie at the heart of the 2030 Agenda.

  The Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) is the first binding international agreement to specifically target illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Its objective is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by preventing vessels engaged in IUU fishing from using ports and landing their catches. The PSMA entered into force in June 2016. By the first year and a half, more than a third of countries were Parties to it.

World Bee day draws attention to the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy. In 2017 a proposal for World Bee Day was submitted at the 40th Session of FAO Conference. The UN General Assembly unanimously proclaimed 20 May as World Bee Day. The 20th May 2018 was the first Observance of World Bee Day. 

 The first International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing was celebrated for the first time on 5 June 2018, with FAO as the lead agency.

Following the success of the International Year of Pulses (IYP) 2016, World Pulses Day is a new opportunity to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of eating pulses.

FAO’s Urban Food Agenda supports policy-makers globally to incorporate food systems into city planning.

The UN Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 aims to shed new light on what it means to be a family farmer in a rapidly changing world and highlights more than ever before the important role they play in eradicating hunger and shaping our future of food.

The new Hand-in-Hand Initiative is an innovative business model and a unique opportunity through which partners across the public, private and other sectors can work together to end poverty and hunger and build prosperity in developing countries.   

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The year is a once in a lifetime opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. FAO and its International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) are leading activities to make the Year a success and promote plant health beyond 2020.

After water, tea is the most widely drunk beverage in the world. The sector employs 13 million people in some 50 countries, most of them smallholder farmers. The first International Tea Day is marked on 21 May 2020.

With cities set to house two-thirds of the global population by 2050, FAO debuts the Green Cities Initiative. The programme supports city governments to integrate urban and peri-urban forestry, agriculture and bioeconomy practices to improve the livelihoods and well-being of urban residents. 

FAO launches the Digital Villages Initiative in an effort to help close the science, technology and innovation gap in low- and middle-income countries. The programme helps rural communities use digital tools to boost agricultural productivity and expand economic activity beyond the agrifood sector. 

An independent youth-led partnership network, grown out of FAO’s Youth Committee, is officially formed to harness the power, passion and skills of young people to shape the future of agrifood systems. The World Food Forum holds its first annual flagship event in October 2021.  

FAO launches the first five country projects of the One Country One Priority Product initiative (OCOP) in Bangladesh, Egypt, Malawi, Trinidad and Tobago and Uzbekistan. OCOP supports countries to promote Special Agricultural Products: unique products which have untapped potential to improve food security and healthy diets, both regionally and around the world. 

The FAO elearning Academy reaches a major milestone: a million learners have accessed its free multilingual certified elearning courses since its founding. The Academy offers more than 600 courses that strengthen the capacity of member countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda. 

FAO honours participants in the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, which safeguards and supports unique landscapes and agricultural practices that enhance rural livelihoods through biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, tradition and innovation. The 20-year programme continues its expansion, with over 80 sites designated across the world.  

The G20 Agriculture Working Group Ministerial Declaration officially recognizes FAO’s Blue Transformation Roadmap 2022-2030, highlighting its guidance for the sustainable expansion and transformation of aquatic food systems. The roadmap promotes holistic strategies to ensure nutritious aquatic food, protect ecosystems and strengthen management of aquatic resources in order to combat food insecurity.