With only about 2 percent of its total population severely undernourished (7 percent lower than...
Regional Initiatives
As economic reforms in the 1990s shifted land ownership into the hands of private smallholders, family farmers became the predominant source of agricultural production in the region. To address the absence of well-developed institutional support, FAO is implementing a Regional Initiative on Empowering Smallholders and Family Farms for Improved Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction.
While international trade policy is usually implemented at the border, adherence to food safety and quality standards concerns national food safety systems as well as food safety and quality control at the enterprise level. This means that a supportive policy environment for modern agrifood trade encompasses not only border policies, but also policies and institutions at the national and enterprise level.
The impact of climate change can already be felt on food production systems in the region, posing considerable challenges for agricultural production and food security. FAO is helping countries to manage their natural resources sustainably, while also coping with climate change and reducing the risk of disasters affecting agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Stories from the field
Two of her sons were kidnapped. Schools were closed. Syria was in the throes of conflict, and there wasn’t much of a future there for Rasha Kamar and her family.
She and her husband sold their house in Syria and fled to Turkey, hoping to start again.
“I came here for the future of my children,” she says. “I moved to İzmir and started looking for jobs when I was out of money.”
Because every facet of agricultural activity depends on the weather, unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change and other meteorological phenomena have increased the need for precise weather data.
With careful planning and research, agrometeorology can help farmers overcome chaotic weather and meet the world’s demand for food and other agricultural products.
FAO continues to protect the lives and livelihoods of conflict-affected people. Households from 52 settlements along the “contact line” will be provided with day-old chickens and animal feed. The help, valued at USD 1 million, comes as part of United Nations emergency support.