MPPSC 2022 Prelims Paper-I · Question 31 of 100

Correct — D, Rome. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations working on food security, nutrition and agriculture, has been headquartered in Rome, Italy since 1951.

• (a)Jakarta — Jakarta hosts the ASEAN Secretariat, not the FAO; it has no institutional link to the UN food agency.
• (b)The Hague — The Hague is the seat of international justice bodies such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, not the FAO.
• (c)Geneva — Geneva hosts several other UN bodies (WHO, ILO, WTO among them), but not the FAO.

FAO is a UN specialized agency established in 1945 to lead international efforts on food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Its headquarters have been in Rome, Italy since 1951. Rome also hosts two sister UN food/agriculture bodies — the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) — together sometimes called the 'Rome food cluster'.

Exams test the headquarters of international organisations as a recurring factual set; students often mix up FAO with agencies headquartered in Geneva (WHO, ILO, WTO) or The Hague (ICJ, ICC). Anchor: Rome hosts the food/agriculture trio — FAO, WFP, IFAD.

• FAO = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, established 1945
• Headquartered in Rome, Italy, since 1951
• Rome also hosts WFP (World Food Programme) and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)
• Geneva instead hosts WHO, ILO and WTO — a common source of confusion

• Confusing FAO (Rome) with Geneva-based agencies like WHO or WTO
• Mixing up FAO with WFP or IFAD despite all three being in Rome

A direct one-line 'headquarters of organisation X' factual recall; MPPSC and UPSC both test this as standalone GK.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The World Food Programme (WFP), a sister UN food agency to FAO, is headquartered in:

  • (a)Geneva
  • (b)Rome
  • (c)New York
  • (d)Nairobi

  Answer(b) Rome — WFP, like FAO, is headquartered in Rome.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following UN specialized agencies is headquartered in Geneva, not Rome?

  • (a)World Health Organization (WHO)
  • (b)FAO
  • (c)IFAD
  • (d)WFP

  Answer(a) World Health Organization (WHO) — headquartered in Geneva.