José Graziano da Silva

His other awards include the Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (2019), Medal Dr. Alvarado Barcellos Fagundes (2019), Order of Merit in the Diplomatic and International Field from Slovenia (2019), Ordre national du Lion Commandeur (2019), First Class Medal of Merit Citizenship from Cape Verde (2018), Order of the Two Niles from Sudan Government (2018), Officier de l’Ordre National du Burkina Faso (2018), Commandeur de l’Ordre National de la Republique de Madagascar (2016), Cavaliere di Gran Croce della Repubblica Italiana (2015), Member of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Date Palm Award (2014).

Graziano da Silva was the sole candidate in the elections for FAO's top leadership post in 2015. He was therefore re-elected for a second term (from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2019) with 177 votes out of the 182 total ballots cast. His tenure in the second term was marked by some controversy, including as a result of FAO recruitment of Nadine Heredia Alarcón de Humala, wife of the former president of Peru, Ollanta Humala, to a senior position, at a time when she was being investigated by Peru following corruption allegations.

Graziano da Silva's controversies include recognizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for "reducing hunger" in 2013 and 2015 while Venezuela was actually suffering acute food shortages and attempting to hire former First Lady of Peru, Nadine Heredia, while under national indictment for corruption charges. The UN appointment would have conferred the former First Lady with diplomatic immunity against corruption crimes.

In April, 2013 Graziano was given the title of a Samoan chief while taking part in a regional FAO meeting for the South Pacific. He was bestowed the title of Tagaloaletoaolemalaeoletoto (Tagaloa the warrior of the battleground of blood). On 4 November 2013, he was bestowed with the title 'Grand Officier de l'Ordre National du Benin' by the Grand Chancellor of the National Order of Benin, Ms. Koubourath Anjorin Osseni in recognition of FAO's important contribution in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Benin. However, the "Zero Hunger" has now widely been viewed as with a 3.99% malnutrition death rate.

José Graziano da Silva (born November 17, 1949) is a Brazilian American agronomist and writer. As a scholar, he has authored several books about the problems of agriculture in Brazil. Between 2003 and 2004, Graziano served in the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cabinet as Extraordinary Minister for Food Security, being responsible for implementing the Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) program, which was a focal point of the Lula Administration's cash transfer program Bolsa Familia. On June 26, 2011, Graziano was elected director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), becoming the first Latin American ever to hold the position. After his first term from 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2015, Graziano da Silva was re-elected for a second 4 year-term (1 August 2015 to 31 July 2019) during FAO's 39th Conference.

On 2011, Graziano launched his candidacy for the post of Director General of FAO. He was elected on June 26, 2011, by the agency's 37th conference in Rome, replacing Jacques Diouf, whose 18-year tenure prompted a change in the agency's rules to set term limits. Graziano received 92 of the 180 votes on a second ballot, defeating former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos. Other candidates on the first ballot were Franz Fischler (Austria), Indroyono Soesilo (Indonesia), Mohammad Saeid Noori Naeini (Iran), and Latif Rashid (Iraq). Graziano's term as Director General of FAO began on January 1, 2012, and end in July 2015.

In March 2006, Graziano became an Assistant Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and served as FAO's regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. During his tenure, Graziano obtained from the countries of Latin America a commitment to eradicate hunger by 2025. He also promoted a program on rural issues, which defends the strengthening of institutions and public policies aimed at achieving comprehensive and inclusive development in rural areas.

In 2001, Graziano coordinated the formulation of the Fome Zero program, one of the main points of the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva campaign for Brazil's presidency. In late 2002, after Lula da Silva became President-elect, Graziano was appointed by him as the Extraordinary Minister for Food Security. From January 1, 2003, to January 23, 2004, he served as head of that body, being responsible for implementing - albeit not devising - the Fome Zero program, which took 28 million people out of the national poverty line during the 8 years of the Lula administration. In January 2004, Lula created the Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger to absorb the functions of the Extraordinary Ministry, naming Patrus Ananias as head of the newly created Ministry. Afterwards, Graziano became a special advisor to the Presidency of the Republic.

Graziano is the author of important publications on rural development, food security, and agrarian economics. He has published 25 books, including De boias frias an empregados rurais ("From Bóias Frias to Rural Workers") and his most work, O que é a questão agrária? (English: What is the Agrarian Question?), originally published by the Brasiliense publishing house in 1980.

Graziano da Silva has had a long and distinguished academic career from 1978 through the present day, serving as a full professor at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and Chair of the Master's and Doctoral Program in Economic Development, Space, and Environment at UNICAMP's Institute for Economics. As a professor, Dr. Graziano da Silva has been recognized for his valuable contribution to the training and preparation of a new generation of young Latin American professionals dedicated to rural development and food security.

Graziano da Silva has had a professional career in the fields of food security, agriculture, and rural development. Since 1977, Graziano da Silva has devoted his efforts to issues related to rural development and fighting hunger while working in the academia, at the political level and with organized labour.

Graziano graduated as an agronomist in 1972, after attending the University of São Paulo's Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz. He earned an MBA from that same institution in 1974, after presenting a dissertation about the distribution of wealth in Brazil. He received his doctor's degree from the Campinas State University in 1980, and went on to become a professor of Agricultural Economics in the same institution. He also later received post-doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of London's Institute of Latin American Studies.