October 2026 | Publications & Reports

Assessing the Technical Capacity of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations holds a mandate that spans food, agriculture, nutrition, and food security, ranging from global standard-setting to support in individual countries. Doing that well depends on the expertise, knowledge, and skills of its people. Climate pressures, geopolitical instability, rapid technological change, and tighter funding are all raising the bar for what Member States expect from that expertise.

FAO commissioned Dalberg to assess whether it has the technical capacity it needs to deliver its strategy and meet Members’ demands over the next five to ten years. The Technical Capacity Assessment (TCA) was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 looked at what expertise FAO needs, and where, across its Programme Priority Areas. Phase 2 turned to how FAO can access, grow, and sustain that expertise, and puts forward recommendations on the organizational conditions that shape it.

The assessment drew on interviews, focus groups, workshops, and surveys with FAO staff and leadership, along with external stakeholder inputs and document review. The findings reflect the situation at the time each phase was completed.

Both reports are available below.

FAO Technical Capacity Assessment Phase 1: What Technical Expertise Does FAO need, and Where?

Phase 1 assessed FAO’s technical capacity against current and expected demand over the next five to ten years. Using the Programme Priority Areas under the Four Betters as its framework, it identifies where FAO’s technical strengths lie, where gaps are emerging, and what expertise is needed across headquarters and decentralized offices.
The assessment draws on 70 interviews, 19 focus groups, 19 staff workshops, and an internal survey with 755 detailed responses from 96 organizational units, alongside the 2023 external stakeholder survey and interviews with senior leaders of partner organizations.
The report covers the main trends shaping demand for FAO’s support, summaries for each Programme Priority Area, and summaries by headquarters unit. It also sets out the recurring challenges that Phase 2 went on to examine.
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FAO Technical Capacity Assessment Phase 2: How Can FAO Build and Sustain the Capacity It Needs?

Phase 2 builds on the Phase 1 findings and looks at the organizational side of technical capacity: how FAO identifies, shares, develops, and renews expertise, both inside the organization and through partners. Drawing on consultations with 100 FAO stakeholders and a review of internal documents and practice elsewhere, it identifies five interconnected root-cause challenges and a set of recommendations to address them.
The recommendations are grouped by priority and sequence. They include a small number of “must-have” enablers, such as greater visibility of in-house expertise, stronger knowledge management, and stronger performance management. They also include people management measures and pilots for new forms of collaboration and partnership. The report also sets out an approach for communicating the changes and for monitoring and learning from implementation.
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