ROME – As if hiring the IAEA chief’s daughter to a staff job in his cabinet office over the heads of other young consultants were not enough, FAO chief QU Dongyu has climaxed his alliance with the Argentininan would be UN secretary general Rafael Grossi by announcing a nebulous "Atoms4Food Initiative" evidently designed to channel precious donor funds into a dubious “flagship” joint venture between the two UN agencies, FAO watchers say.

 FAO trumpeted the “ground-breaking” new partnership with a characteristically cliché ridden website post illustrated with a photo of Qu and Grossi beaming broadly side by side for the World Food Day jamboree held in the Eternal City this week, as ever with zero results for splurging of member countries' funds for the meeting of minds in the Eternal City. “Science, technology and innovation (STI) is indispensable for achieving a world free from hunger and malnutrition,” the FAO said with its usual scant regard for correct English syntax.

 “STI has the capacity to address the four dimensions of food security, including food availability, accessibility, utilization and stability, as well as affordability.” Despite praising affordability, the statement did not say how much the initiative will cost donors, however.

 “The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture is unique in the UN System, combining complementary mandates, common objectives, joint programming, co-funding and coordinated management. Leveraging its associated laboratories, it serves as a powerful example of interagency cooperation within the UN family, demonstrating remarkable synergy in action,” the statement droned on.

 “To further strengthen the strategic partnership between  FAO and IAEA, the two organizations jointly launched the flagship initiative on food security – Atoms4Food,” the FAO continued.

 “The Atoms4Food Initiative seeks to provide Member States with ground-breaking solutions, tailored to their specific needs and circumstances, by harnessing the advantages of nuclear techniques along with other advanced technologies.”

 “The Initiative will focus on the role of these technologies as drivers of agrifood systems transformation in various areas, including cropping systems, livestock productivity, natural resource management, and food safety, in order to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and anthropogenic impacts, to better support  Member States to achieve the SDGs.”

 The UN specialised agencies such as FAO and the IAEA continue to pay lip service to the ever-shifting goal posts of the unachievable SDGs, the UN’s equivalent of the Soviet Union’s imaginary five-year plans, a primitive propaganda ploy suggesting to the masses that everything is being done for the best in the best of all worlds that evidently has a familiar ring for Chinese communist party member Qu and his masters in Beijing, diplomatic sources say. No UN executives have the balls to challenge the myths of the SDGs lest they be cut our of the gravy train paid for by member state taxpayers,

 FAO's verbose statement continued that “Partnership and collaboration will be the cornerstone for implementing the Initiative. Collaborating with traditional and non-traditional partners , including other UN Agencies, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Financial Institutions, development agencies, foundations, industry, national academia and research institutions, and other relevant partners, will contribute to the long-term sustainability of the Initiative’s outcomes.”

 “Together, and with Atoms4Food adding a new impetus, FAO and IAEA remain committed to elevate their long-standing strategic partnership towards achieving common goals, seeking to foster a multi-disciplinary approach to develop a holistic Action Plan addressing the challenges to food security and expediting progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

 jf