FAO Podcasts

In this episode of The Work We Do, we speak with Lauren Phillips, Director of Partnerships and UN Collaboration at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about why women and youth are central to the transformation of agrifood systems.
The conversation draws on FAO's flagship reports to examine women's roles across agrifood systems, persistent gaps in access to land, finance, and opportunities, and why progress remains uneven despite decades of policy reform. We discuss the International Year of the Woman Farmer, youth participation in policymaking and the global challenge of youth unemployment, including why young women are disproportionately affected.
The episode also explores the financing gap in agrifood systems and the economic case for investing in women and youth as drivers of inclusive growth, resilience, and food security.
Key reports discussed in this episode:
-              The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (2023)
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc5343en/
-              The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems (2025) https://www.fao.org/3/cd5619en/online/cd5619en.html
-              The Unjust Climate (2024) https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cc9680en
-              Financing Food for a Better Future (2025)
https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/e279d507-3ac2-4f0b-a775-9937d97976b8

In this first episode of The Work We Do, we speak with Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Máximo served as the Director of Markets, Trade and Institutions Division at IFPRI and later as an Executive Director for the World Bank representing several South American countries.
The conversation explores how agrifood systems, global markets, financing, and macroeconomic stability are deeply interconnected, and why food security is not only a humanitarian concern but a central pillar of economic and political resilience, promoting national security. Máximo explains how countries can better protect themselves against food crises through smarter investment, early action, and risk-informed policies, and why prevention is far more effective than crisis response.
The episode also unpacks the links between hunger, migration, and conflict, and the role international institutions play in stabilizing agrifood systems and reducing systemic risk in an increasingly volatile global environment. Máximo also offers a glimpse into how his upbringing in Peru and his early years as a researcher have shaped his career and worldview. 
 
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