A Brazilian professor has been elected the new head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Jose Graziano da Silva won on the second ballot during voting Sunday at the agency's headquarters in Rome , beating out Spain's former foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Graziano is taking over the FAO at a time of high food prices and chronic worldwide hunger. He has said Africa should remain a high priority for the agency.

Since 2006, he has served as the FAO's regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on family farming and rural development as a means of reducing food scarcity.

Before joining the FAO, Graziano served as Brazil's food security minister. There he played a key role in designing and implementing the country's “Zero Hunger” program which helped to significantly decrease malnutrition In Brazil.