FAO member countries to vote for José Graziano da Silva in June

José Graziano da Silva, the current director-general of the Rome-based United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is the sole candidate in the upcoming elections for the agency's top leadership position.

Brazil was the only FAO member country to put forward a candidate by the 31 January deadline, and it nominated Brazilian Graziano da Silva for re-election.

The election process takes place during the 39th FAO Conference from 6-13 June, and the four-year term of office for the new director-general begins in August.

Members of the organisation's highest governing body will cast their vote on a one-country-one vote basis in a secret ballot which requires a simple majority for a valid outcome.

In 2011 Graziano da Silva was elected the ninth director-general of FAO, and the first Latin American ever to hold the position. At the beginning of 2012 he succeeded Jacques Diouf, from Senegal, who had been the director-general for the previous 18 years.

Following Diouf's departure the rules were changed to ensure that future directors-general can only serve a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms.