Luanda: The African Union approved by consensus on Wednesday the candidacy of Angola's Josefa Sacko for the post of Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the 2027-2031 term.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the decision emerged from the 49th Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council, which concluded on Wednesday in Addis Ababa; it transforms the bid submitted by Angola, representing the Southern Africa region, into the continent's official candidacy. The election for the position of FAO Director-General will take place in July 2027 in Rome, Italy.
On this occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs T©te Ant³nio thanked Morocco and Uganda for withdrawing their respective candidacies in favor of a consensus around the Angolan candidate. He noted that the decision demonstrates political solidarity among African states, avoids internal divisions, and strengthens the continent's position in global governance bodies.
According to T©te Ant³nio, Josefa Sacko does not intend to reinvent the FAO but rather to consolidate the organization's achievements, prioritizing enhanced operational efficiency and bringing the institution closer to its member states. The candidacy proposes leveraging Africa's experience, innovation, and resilience to help devise global solutions for food security challenges.
The leadership proposal, presented on July 27 in Addis Ababa during a hearing before the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures in the International System, is titled "A Continental Ambition for Global Food and Agriculture Governance." The program is based on a universal and inclusive approach, focusing on concrete results for Member States, and seeks to align FAO's Strategic Framework 2022-2031 with the socioeconomic development aspirations of the African Union's Agenda 2063.
The plan establishes four priority areas to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems, highlighting production, nutrition, the environment, and improving the quality of life for rural populations. Regarding production, the proposal envisions strengthening productive inputs by promoting inclusive agricultural technologies and transferring technical knowledge to rural areas.
On the nutrition front, the goal is to contribute to eradicating hunger and combating various forms of malnutrition, in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 2 of the United Nations' Agenda 2030. The environmental component prioritizes sustainable water resource management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation mechanisms.
The fourth area focuses on the empowerment and productive inclusion of women and youth in the agricultural sector, aiming for the sustainable development of rural areas.
Regarding governance, Josefa Sacko proposes a reform aimed at improving FAO's operational efficiency through a concerted decentralization process that is well-coordinated with the functions of the organization's headquarters in Rome. The proposal envisions strengthening communication between headquarters and regional and sub-regional offices, as well as national representations, to tailor FAO's interventions to the specific realities of each member state.
The strategy also aims to equip local representations with greater technical capacity to respond to geopolitical, climate, and food crises, under the guidance and supervision of headquarters. The principle of subsidiarity is a cornerstone of the proposal, intended to strengthen countries' institutional capacities while respecting their sovereignty and national leadership.
The candidate also considers food security to be directly linked to global stability, peace, and sustainable development. To ensure FAO's financial sustainability, the proposal advocates for diversifying funding sources through partnerships with international financial institutions, the private sector, universities, and producer organizations.
The blue economy is another component of the strategy, focusing on the sustainable use of water and marine resources to bolster the livelihoods of coastal and riverine populations.
Josefa Sacko possesses experience in the fields of agriculture, rural development, the blue economy, the environment, food security, and climate change. In Angola, she served as a government consultant, advising the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, and the Environment-particularly on matters of international cooperation, food security, and climate change.
At the continental level, she served from 2017 to 2025 as the African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment. She currently serves as Angola's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Italian Republic and Permanent Representative to the international organizations based in Rome, where she closely monitors FAO coordination mechanisms.
