The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that recommendations made by FAO and similar policy groups are being ignored, and as a result, lifestyles and diets in many parts of the world are becoming less sustainable.

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Speaking at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said "countries are not coping as well as they could" with changes wrought by urbanisation, economic growth and other transformations. He said that, as a result of come dietary and cultural shifts, food safety, knowledge transfer and the environment have suffered.

Graziano da Silva, who took the reins at the FAO two years ago, has promised to work towards creating a more inductive, environmentally sound and socially-orientated agriculture sector. The former Brazilian Minister for Food Security is credited with raising 28 million people above the poverty line during his eight years in office.   

On Friday, he told students and academics gathered in Wageningen, "We need integrated nutrition strategies, formed with the input of society as a whole - the private sector, consumers, doctors, and consumer organizations and others."

He said that, while 870 million people suffer from hunger, there are also over half a billion who are obese and susceptible to non-communicable diseases. The FAO chief called for a more action to promote a global "nutrition strategy", which would involve rethinking the role of traditional crops, improving education and making diets more environmentally sustainable.

On the subject of rediscovering traditional crops, Graziano da Silva said, "Every region has a variety of non-commodity crops that were used in the past as food." FAO has named 2013 the year of quinoa, to promote one such traditional crop. On Friday, Graziano da Silva highlighted the cereal's potential for improving global food security. Quinoa is the only plant food that has all the essential amino acids and is widely adaptable to different conditions.

He added that championing small-scale production is also important, stating that "I believe there is room for both [large and small-scale] agricultural models in the world today, we need both of them." In most developing countries small-scale farming is the main producer of food consumed nationally and also the main source of employment in rural areas.

Finally, the UN ambassador questioned the axiomatic position currently held by 'technological fixes' to agricultural problems. He warned that, although science and technology must play a part in driving agricultural productivity and production increases, technology cannot simply be exported from one country to another and be expected to work perfectly. Expounding on the need to adapt to local conditions, Graziano da Silva said, "Agriculture is too sensitive and location specific. Soil, climate, water availability and so many other factors influence how one technology will work elsewhere."

He continued, "We need to ask farmers what they need, what they want, see what could fit, how it needs to be adapted and ensure that whatever we do ends up being 'owned' by the farmers themselves."