i'm is gripped on the lens, food and agricultural organization, and of course the find a lot more news analysis and background to on our websites go visit dw dot com, got off is invalid from me and the new seen the ice cold b. jessica new an expedition ventures on 2 places that no one has the climate research in the ice, the dos march, 3rd on dw, the it started as just a cloud. then the sky grew dark. they had arrived between

20192021. billions of locusts spread in great waves over parts of africa. very quickly eating the fields spare. the farmers tried everything they could to save their crops. the then came insecticides from among others, a you in organization. they help to subdue the plaque the but we have learned that the same you an organization approve the delivery of other chemical pulsed africa. pesticides not to be used for combat in locusts or other

natural disasters. can either do you see this during your time? no. no, no, this is an absolutely shock extra. okay. you see it shoots you my guess is the 2nd piece that we use in the bus city is 323. wow. when court cases day, this film shows how the united nations food and agriculture organization has changed. how do we know an inside or has given us the details? i believe that china is using the organization for its own purposes, the

as of midnight. it was the lowest point months of research took us to 4 continents to countries like panama vows, malawi and zambia. the, the story begins in rome at the s a o, the united nations food and agriculture organization. the employee wanted to expose how the organization was increasingly serving the interest of one of its members, states,

china. the after much discussion the whistle blower agreed to meet with us on condition of anonymity. the. this is why we did not film them at home, but at another location, we wondered if they would really come to this meeting. okay, what if they ever do this? say that just that they are on their way of speaking with us meant they were risking their job, but i hope they still want to do this. and then they arrived the to protect them. we're having a voice actor, repeat what they told us about why you were speaking with us. a lot has changed in the last 4 years. i believe the china is using the organization for its own purposes. mainly for do political purposes and interest.

the f a o has several core mandates, but 1st and foremost, it converts hunger to this end, it carries out analyses for efficient and sustainable agriculture. it develops crop protection and food quality standards as well as agriculture and nutrition strategies. the organization primarily advises countries in the global south. i 1st started working for the fail because i wanted to play a positive role in eating development and cooperation. i've always been very interested in agriculture, but also a nutrition and food policy. and i thought i could contribute a little to improving that global situation on

the inside or is one of 3000 f, a o employees, part of one of the largest specialized united nations agencies comprising 194 nations and the european union with its funding coming from member states, a considerable share comes from germany, who contributed more than $100000000.00 in 2021 alone. this makes germany, one of the largest donor countries are inside or has had concerns for some time. i've had this sense from the 1st day to arrived. something didn't feel right, which added up over time until it all didn't make sense anymore. something here is

definitely off to don't you? is the current director general of the f a o. and the main character in this story he began his career in beijing's chinese academy of agricultural sciences in the eighty's. in 2015, he became deputy minister of agriculture and the chinese government in 2019 china, nominated to for the post of director general of the f. a o. and he was elected to the position by delegates permits member states. juliet truck now represented germany at the time the obviously course of why is the f i a relevant to to as a global play. i play uh well, i live on it. home escape likes the because food has to be christian is what we need most advice. i mean that is what the scenario is about versus the and why it

is an international irrelevant, intense amount of events in spring 2019. there were 5 candidates and the running for the post of director general of the fail from china, india, cameroon, georgia, and france. then the candidates from camera roon and india withdrew from the race just prior to the election. china had for given nearly $80000000.00 of camera rooms debt june 22nd 20191 day before the election. julia pluck. now was there one done by doesn't seem to be, i'm the, was this rob at the saw situation in rome. i. why? because it was so clear who the favorite had to be. love would have probably designing the french candidate managed by. that's on susan. 3 candidates were left,

those from france, georgia, and to don't you from china. but a flush and fun thing, she knew session, kindly that not longer my job. as of this, by doing the chinese candidates presentation. i came to the conclusion that either he didn't care about winning may oh, he didn't expect to in an uncomfortable on that it would be decided behind the scenes. this does this one's i get the feeling we are pins. i only gave me recognized later on pick them up, but we have been playing by different rules and this what am if it went to the income? oh, the should be it. some delegates were an easy, usually a truck. now remember? then what us on climate station admitted and said became clear how much money had been spent in the run up to the trade based on all us. what great trips have been provided for the invested isn't that family size farther than because they don't,

they didn't fly economy, oklahoma, i had set the mission economy. other rumors also made the rounds. look at it on the stage before i'm invited again with the saved it came out that the african countries in particular had been politely asked to take photos of that balance in the voting of the month. and so i think as a result, telephones were banned from the voting booths. the f o member states voted and the ballots were counted after the 1st round, the jungle gina, the china garnered a 108 boats to became director general of the f. a o,

have a very good effort to my motherland. we saw the 40 years of a successful reform on the open door policy. the that was the lowest point. the organization seemed important to china, but why? we asked all right, the old. they are an expert on chinese foreign policy. why is china interested in the f a o n nibble? actually in the metric some time for the 1st and foremost, food supply is central to the chinese government's domestic security. i know that i had some kind of self as known very, very severe, 5 minute firsthand. so on my, i know it was like was of the last note. in the 19 fifties and sixties,

china experienced one of the worst famines and history. millions of citizens died. the chinese government has prioritized food security ever since. you cannot find the government provided economically for the people and in return were able to stay in power. li, insured and economic up turn so that the people try it. the children are better off than their parents, so i get that was all part of the deal and of course, and yes, and are we still blower thinks the chinese government is using the f a o for this to. countries are not actually allowed to decide exactly what money should be spent on or in which country, but in china is case. this is different for certain projects. the chinese ministry of agriculture gets direct instructions for both project planning and implementation. if you ask colleagues or superiors about it, they say that's just how it is in china,

or is this true? during our research, we came across a project on the f a, a website in northern allows. 40000 head of cattle were to be vaccinated before they could be exported to china. the program was financed by the chinese ministry of agriculture. we were sent data from the as a oh and spent months analyzing it. we found the capital vaccination project in laos with an interesting note the project is in keeping with the one build one road initiative. that is the new silk road. china is massive initiative launched in 2013 into that. so now the, let's see, aim is to realign international relations,

trade routes and connectivity, let and ultimately to reshape the world so that china occupies a more central and more powerful position on visor with united thoughts. and all of the most important countries are those surrounding china, and that's because it has to go through them. you know, if it can't go through them, china will face a major obstacle and they'll have to 940 thanks to a major belt and road project. tiny louse is now connected with china via the new railroad line, built by its neighbor. opened in 2021. it takes just under 4 hours to get from the capital vention to the chinese border, some 400 kilometers away the . the new rail connection allows the simple transport not only of people, but also grain, raw materials, or cattle from neighboring countries into china. but the rail line was expensive.

laos is now deeply in debt to china and is on the verge of national bankruptcy. the out. meanwhile, china is aggressively promoting the rail line the china is trying to expand its influence in the world, including within un organizations. the data contained information on specific people in the field. at work we've nicknamed them spice, that officers are paid by the respective as a member states is not unusual in itself. but there was something striking about

the chinese officers. some are paid by what is known as the china scholarship council. we looked at the website and found a job posting for the f a o. it said that the political ideology of applicants was strictly monitored. applicants had to undergo further training in patriotic values. and had to report regularly to the chinese embassy. the primary loyalty is owed to the chinese state, and that takes precedence over all other obligations. are all other loyalties that you might possibly have to keep human show as i'm french economist jones back god has long been observing the f a o. he points to another group of people. yeah. will be the best one as a fellow,

if you don't say it's very is the s i o still awfully big, which is funded through the funds from the national buttons tool. and then they're all the consultants involved fairly so many itself as well. and then already recorded a saw that you know, the cost of the whole. it's not transparent to talk to see does it cost you don't, it didn't have the loss of these consultants. all the chinese consultants don't or chinese, any tons and so on becomes the discount only these consultants are building up known actually collecting information goes to be compiling analyses, please inform us joey calls. and so the facts of influencing the discourses that are taking place as of the fit, they just quote, the sewing and something else struck us. this is the organization charged with the to the top 2 and his deputies or at the top of the organization chart with the directors immediately below. the 2 chinese directors at

the time of choose election had grown to $61.00 newly appointed director shaw senior. when had joined the chinese government in 2001 since 2021, he has led the f a o department responsible for pesticides we drove to ban switzerland to meet with charles predecessor honey dryer. who now works in public administration. as a subsidy. so we showed him documents and data from the f a o does . his chuckled. this is unbelievable. it's almost beyond comprehension. these are dangerous substances because these chemicals are really toxic, not just for the environment to turn off, but to humans to being destination. if you see this during your time, i know no,

no, no 9. how's it i own some chemicals were certainly used in my tongue. oh sort of, but none that were so dangerous and i'll put down what this is shocking of on those on this. so this is absolutely shocking, so cute infinity. jake's choking and the documents showed more than $300.00 individual pesticide shipments according to our analysis. the f. a o headquarters in rome issued permits for the shipments between 202020. 23. to use these pesticides as part of f, a o projects and countries of the global. so the q him, it took some folks on treat me the quote brand new 1st 12 perry, fresh and velocity, and see that these insecticides have been used to combat locust investigations. and but the data also lists substances that are not used against locusts. rather pesticides used in everyday agricultural work.

on the quote of these hub besides a seat at all. but i proceed o'clock to these. we'd come into the room very talks a whole bon bonded, and he talks a little more about football. as to them desirous done since the most frequently benefit substance, it's a fung decide, it has also been bound to use even floods. no hope of a boat byrom has been banned in europe, but the f a o approved its delivery to numerous countries in the global south. most shipments have gone to africa. been monetized during my tournament. we conscientiously tried to keep the risk planned as small as possible 9 votes, and to keep the use of such substances to an absolute minimum to him. but this is a really astonishing fitness. we also showed the data

analysis to pesticide expert keith tyrrell, who sits on several f, a o committees. these chemicals are dangerous. they should not be being used by small held a promise in the global science with limited training, limited access to personal protective equipment, limited oversight. i've listed this place it limited access to health care as well . so i'm, i am quite shocked to see an organization like i am promoting these dangerous chemicals in farming systems. the industry often argues that the pesticides are not dangerous if the prescribed protective measures are in place. but in africa, this is often precisely the problem zambia in

mid june, we met with small farm owners to protect their cabbage from insects. they mix up a pesticide cocktail at least they wear rubber boots, though not always when it's $35.00 degrees celsius in the fields. we learned that many of them don't even understand the safety instructions when it comes to visual of poisoning. yes, we've had that experience is i want that for his own name because we sure didn't sticker on the right me. yes, definitely. you will have some challenges with the game because pesticide poisoning is a major problem in africa. we travel to a hospital in the long way in neighboring malawi, head physician, patrick g espo,

described his experiences as a hospital, as we have seen, issued the number of cases reciting from the study use in the past 3 is 323 is our goal. wow. so when a good time, while i cases that many here are threatened by pesticide poisoning more than half of the population and zambia and malawi, work in agriculture. we went into one of the pesticide shops that appear on every street corner. much of what is for sale here. pair a clock, for example, is banned in the you for being to toxic the so the fact that the f a o approves pesticides like pare quite as part of its own projects is surprising.

so the idea that f i o is delivering power required is, is beyond comprehension. there is no excuse for yes, i have to be providing power across. this will hold the following systems with levels of poisoning all 40 percent plus. a study published in 2020 found around $1600000.00 cases of pesticide poisoning per year in europe and $8000000.00 in south america. but in africa, there were $115000000.00 per year, even though significantly fewer pesticides are used on this continent. then in other parts of the world, the why does the f a o approve the use of pesticides that are banned in europe due to their toxicity for its own on site projects?

especially when it stresses its commitment to a special program aiming to move away from dependence on pesticides. the f a o left all our questions about specific pesticides and answered but we found a possible explanation. the new york in september 2019, she had just taken office on the sidelines of the united nations general assembly. the director general held a breakfast, meeting with representatives from major food and agricultural companies. here to presented his new program called the hand in hand initiative. the defendant, as a teacher,

this is to don't use central initiative to much making is it's the most important element. doctors can lifting partners with developing countries possible the f a o's hand in hand initiative, has the stated aim of helping countries in the global south to develop project investment plans and supplies the countries with a platform to search for potential investors. according to you, an expert max auto bowman, this approach clearly bears chinese hallmarks. does this conceptual sent us a meant this mutual benefits is a very interesting central principle of chinese foreign development policy. let me take a take a look. so development aid is not an obligation for me to think of, but a mutual benefits calculation for both sides benefits of books and costs the recipients

. i'm the investor, i don't want that, came up in october 2022. the f a o hosted an investment for them in room. welcome to the 1st time you find investment for me. this is a dream come true, lose something that evicted you know, if they feel is thought it seems, if there's a here i have to fail the hand in hand initiative had become one of the director general. choose most important projects that do not have a hyundai, hon, some all the implementation of a national lead. and the national own basis program is the ex center. the food is system is transformation by your right to get a poverty s b g y. and it has a undermined new jersey, a s,

b g to as we do so, you know, create a dis during this event several countries presented potential investment projects among them. so to me and principi, a small island nation of the west african coast, we looked at their project involving the fishing industry, new ports and tourism for which the fios could match up, potential investors with the government. but we realized that it could also concern completely different interests. we decided to take a look at the democratic republic of so to me and principi is a lush island nation. far removed from the tourist hustle and bustle.

i'll go down the but the small west african archipelago is one of the world's poorest countries. it is heavily in debt. we accompanied a group of f, a o employees to a remote fishing village. the, they were there to take inventory to count and measure votes for their eventual replacement. the, the fisher's were just returning from 10 hours, etc. in wooden boats like these as we were curious to

see what they had brought in the catch was meeker yet again to be. uh, it was better just a few years ago that were more efficient. now like cool, big companies from europe and asia come close to the coast here with that. okay, the more fishing everything out. this is where the f a o supported investment project comes in. in the future, the fishermen would be provided with modern fiberglass boats that could be equipped with motors, allowing them to go further out to see this is where the investors would come into play.

in addition to fishing, the investment paper also contained a completely different idea for advancing. so to me and principal, it referred to this commercial from the 1980s do according to the f o investment paper, this type of branding could be used to attract investors for tourism. we drove to the sleepy port town of navies, according to the investment plan. one of for new ports was to be built here, including a cruise ship war. if investors could be found, the local residents were skeptical because they have to go look at the, there are great plans you separate,

but then nothing ever happens because they list of they make big promises that they don't see permission. well meant the brought me the america as well as our quick design contracts, but then nothing comes of it so close to that. we ordinary people can try as hard as we like people of faith. but in the end, we end up with nothing wrong with the method was no one here really believes cruise ships will bring droves of taurus to the island in the foreseeable future. so who will ultimately benefit from the new port? the topic of building ports on. so to me and principi is not new for the people here. in 2015, china announced a new deep sea port construction project at a cost of $800000000.00 us dollars a

year later. so to me and principal cut its diplomatic relations with taiwan and establish relations with china, the china is traces are everywhere. at the end of 2021. so to me and principi joined the chinese belt and wrote a glance at the map shows why the small island nation is so attractive for china. it lies in a region where china is influence, is still relatively slight. about the project does not and does not consider not directly at least the atlantic defense. it gets quite those separated from the belt throughout political analyst. gustavo blasio de santos focuses on portuguese speaking countries in africa. she is carefully watching china,

strategic interest in nations. likes out to me and principal he believes the f o investment paper is actually about something else entirely. this whole project where they have these 5 or 6 chapters, like the industry infrastructure foods, was it like fisheries as well included? the kind of resembles the belton roads and internationally sponsors a belt for roots to which they can channel influence and resources to, to products that can actually, the benefit of china is a global logistics. and mentions is the hand in hand initiative. not only concerned with improving the lives of the people on so to me and principal is china really exploiting the f a o for its own geo strategic interests? now we're at the panama canal. one of the world's most important trade routes.

china, is it the 2nd largest client after the us here to a project idea has been floated that could benefit chinese interests. the f a o is looking for investors for a panama food hub initiative here. green from brazil, for example, could be stored here temporarily before being shipped onward to asia. the china has been investing along the panama canal for years. but according to latin america expert evan ellis. others are leading the way internationally in agricultural product, shipping. the panama canal has really never been used as an agricultural distribution hub. it has been used for ships that are carrying agricultural goods that need to transit from atlantic ports. that like is a brazil and argentina,

2 pacific destinations, white china. but the magic of this proposal from a chinese strategic perspective is it leverages a united nations organization and the government of panama to create something that would give the chinese an advantage that they could not get directly in the market through competition or acquisitions. the experts agree that the fios hand in hand initiative could become a driving force behind china as belt and road project. and there's more back in 2020 jew with already one year into his position at the f. a o. the woman next to him is the then ceo of cop life international. the largest agro chemical industry interest group with members including bare and b, a s f the, the document,

and the photo shows the new partnership that has just been concluded between f a o and crop life. crop life international street is a crop life international has been striving for some time to negotiate a partnership agreement with the f they have to mine. and so i thought that he held creative so that was true in my time as well. so i know when they made another effort to get such a partnership agreement to go as partial of top committee for that was an absolute no go in my day on an officer because no go to mine inside the chairman of the board of directors of crop life is here on the left, eric fear, walt head of the chinese state owned syngenta agro chemical group. in the same year, the f. a o entered into another partnership with syngenta itself. few items for your individual crowd protection companies. and that was completely unthinkable. and since you, it's me to see them in the honda shift syngenta,

have you heard back then? that would have been impossible. 9 allen raska was the f o official responsible for crowd protection in latin america and the caribbean for many years . so we asked him what these agreements mean for you, an organization like the f a o to no longer are we in a spot where we can discuss with member countries, human health hazards or pesticides, and with the companies, and play this role mutual broker, that is so important for f, a l for the you into play. now, this partnership with a couple i for nasa out destroys that completely because now there we are. you know, there's the director general smiling with the head of crop life saying we're in this is strategic partnership together. and we're moving forward together. well, to me as sense just the wrong image and message to everybody that i say it was no longer an honest a neutral broker. as we went through pesticides shipment data that could be

traced to specific companies, one firm stood out. the chinese state owned syngenta the how could the as a oh, change its course on pesticides so drastically? the frequent answer is that the u. s. also wants more corporate influence i think that's the space that the us in china is sort of agree to within the field that we can work together because we have common interest. here. we ask the f a o for a statement. regarding the partnership with crop life, we were told that there were no legal, financial or other obligations and that the f a o is currently reviewing all existing partnerships

the. as for best decide shipments, we were told only that the active ingredients must be approved in the recipients country. in certain cases, safer alternatives or being explored. we would have liked to interview to don't you or a representative, but we were refused. many of our questions remain on answered the to the how big i go. flock the finish. we have a letter with us tested. i'm because that's tall. yeah. have so you can open it. let's see what comes to mind. it said it was the best thing. that's one time that was the time. yeah, it's about one interesting to see ok. an experiment the next f a o director general will be elected starting july 1st i the like plus i'm

boss in your opinion. what will happen of china will stay in the drive a safe side of him. his life isn't probable. it is up in violence because there are no other candidates in spring $22033.00 candidates were in the running for the next election. then the candidates from tajikistan and iraq mysteriously withdrew and to don't, you was in fact elected for a 2nd term. for me personally, it's a bitter disappointment that the european union, even in cooperation with the us, did not manage to put forward a candidate for the new election. that is inc. comprehensible to me. our request for an interview was refused by the german ministry of agriculture. we were told in writing that any instrument tele, ization,

of the f a o for unilateral interests is unacceptable. so what happens now plus plus 10, such as to what happens now, depends on how other countries position themselves, how much they show that f a o policy is important to down us or to see, and that they won't just look away from the something i don't see or down if you look at what has happened and what could happen, that could well be an intensification of chinese and for the, for the also she was the

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