The Diplomat
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, participated this Wednesday in Rome in the 181st plenary session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), after the Spanish government officially submitted his candidacy for the position of Director-General of this UN agency.
During his visit to the Italian capital, Planas met with the ambassadors and permanent representatives of Tanzania, Canada, India, Kenya, and the United States to the FAO, reaffirming to them “the shared commitment to food security in the world,” as he posted on social media.
He also met with representatives of the other two UN agencies related to food and headquartered in Rome: the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), currently chaired by the Spaniard Álvaro Lario, whose reappointment is also supported by the government of Pedro Sánchez.
Luis Planas also met with representatives of the African Regional Group at the FAO. “Food security must be at the heart of the debate in Africa; the health and well-being of millions, as well as social stability and economic development, depend on it,” he wrote on social media.
On March 16, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced Planas’s candidacy during his appearance before journalists before participating in the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in Brussels. “It is a Spanish candidacy, but one with a European focus, and it also reflects Spain’s belief in multilateralism and the United Nations at a time when food security is absolutely fundamental,” he stated.
Subsequently, on May 26, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took advantage of his speech at Nutrition Week in Rome, held at FAO headquarters, to also announce the nomination of “a strong candidate to lead this organization, such as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.”
The FAO, headquartered in Rome, is the United Nations agency that leads the international effort to end hunger. With 194 members (193 countries and the European Union), it works in more than 130 countries worldwide. Its current Director-General is Qu Dongyu of China, the ninth since the FAO’s creation in 1945. He took office on August 1, 2019, and was re-elected for a second four-year term on July 2, 2023. Spain is represented at the FAO through the Office of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at its Embassy in Italy. The current Deputy Permanent Representative is Fernando Miranda Sotillos.
Born in Valencia in 1952, Luis Planas has been Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food since June 2018, immediately following the vote of no confidence that brought Pedro Sánchez to power as Prime Minister. Between 1982 and 1987, he was a member of the Spanish Parliament representing Córdoba, and between 1986 and 1993, a Member of the European Parliament. Since then, he has held positions including Spanish Ambassador to Morocco (2004-2010), Permanent Representative of Spain to the European Union (2010-2011), and Minister of Agriculture for the Regional Government of Andalusia in two separate periods (1993-1994 and 2012-2013).