FAO Podcasts

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is disrupting global energy and fertilizer markets. For the hundreds of millions already living in extreme poverty, the effects could be severe. In this episode, Ben Davis, Director of FAO's Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division, and Marco Knowles, Senior Policy Officer in the same division, make the case for social protection as a more effective response than the costly subsidies that governments are reaching for.  

They challenge the idea that cash transfers are handouts, drawing on rigorous evidence showing that rural households invest them productively in agricultural inputs, education, and local economies. And they explain why targeted social assistance outperforms subsidies in both efficiency and reach.  Policy brief: The role of social protection in addressing the impacts of the 2026 conflict in the Middle East – Implications for poverty, food security and smallholder production https://doi.org/10.4060/cd9363en  

0:00 Introduction 0:36 Why social protection is urgent now 2:54 Why social protection systems must exist before crises 6:47 Cash transfers are investments 11:37 Social protection vs subsidies 17:44 The politics of cash transfers 25:18 Lessons from COVID-19 28:36 How to finance social protection 31:26 What countries should do now 33:31 Social protection beyond shock response 36:01 Country examples 39:05 What success could look like in 10 years

In this episode of The Work We Do, we speak with Manuel Barange, FAO Assistant Director-General and Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, about the realities behind fisheries, aquaculture and the future of aquatic foods.i 

Manuel breaks down the latest findings from The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026, including the growing role of aquatic foods in global nutrition and food security, and discusses sustainability, fisheries management and how scientists measure fish stocks that cannot be directly counted. 

He also reflects on his career, from marine biologist and scientific observer at sea to senior leader at FAO, and shares his advice for young professionals entering the sector.  Host :Katrin Park Produced by Eduardo De La Chica Copyright: FAO 
 

00:00 Introduction 

00:59 Are we running out of fish? 

06:13 How fisheries are measured and managed 

15:19 Sustainability, overexploitation and fish stocks 

21:30 Fighting illegal fishing through the Port State Measures Agreement 

31:19 Key findings from The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 

35:06 Aquaculture, Blue Transformation and the future of aquatic foods 

48:34 Manuel's career and advice for young professionals

Sarah Cahill is the Secretary of Codex Alimentarius, the international body that develops the food standards behind much of what we eat, how it is labelled, and how it moves across borders.
In this episode of The Work We Do, Sarah joins us in the Situation Room to discuss the past, present and future of Codex.
We explore how Codex helped countries come together around scientific evidence to protect consumers, reduce foodborne risks and build trust in global food trade. Its work may be invisible to most people, but it sits behind everyday decisions: what appears on a food label, how contaminants are controlled, how additives are assessed, how hygiene rules are applied, and how countries agree that food is safe to trade.
Katrin and Sarah also discuss the difficult process of reaching agreement between countries, why some standards take years to develop, and how science helps create common ground in a world of different regulations, risks and food systems.
Finally, Sarah looks to the future: a warming planet, changing food safety hazards, water scarcity, seaweed, cell-based foods and the new questions regulators will need to answer.
A conversation about the quiet global work that helps keep food safe, and why it shapes our lives more than we realise.

In this episode of The Work We Do, we speak with Lynnette Neufeld, Director of FAO's Food and Nutrition Division, about the complex realities behind today's nutrition challenges. 

The conversation explores the double burden of malnutrition, where undernutrition and obesity can coexist within the same country, community, household or even individual. We also discuss why healthy diets costs more and the difficulties of advancing nutrition policies in contexts shaped by conflicting interests, commercial pressure and the need for stronger policy coherence. 

Lynnette reflects on her years working on the evaluation of Mexico's landmark conditional cash transfer programme, the mentors and experiences in Latin America that shaped her path from young researcher to senior leader in international nutrition, and her vision for FAO's role in the nutrition agenda: helping shift the focus from simply feeding the world to enabling access to and consumption of healthy diets for all. 

00:00 Evidence over interests 00:45 Intro 00:59 The double burden of malnutrition 04:44 Policy responses 08:20 Why unhealthy food is cheaper 12:54 Nutrition beyond health 14:41 Ultra-processed foods 19:08 Commercial pressure 22:39 The role of advertising 25:30 Governments, business and civil society 30:14 Healthy diets and misinformation 32:51 FAO's role in nutrition 39:02 Mexico's cash transfer programme 42:17 Evaluation and implementation 49:00 Latin America and mentorship 01:10 Healthy diets

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since February 28. As of May 18th, 2026, it remains shut. The chokehold on global energy and fertilizer supplies keeps expanding through agrifood systems worldwide. 

In this special episode of The Work We Do, we discuss the short, medium, and long-term structural policy solutions to the global agrifood impacts of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.