Unsafe food is a major threat to human health and economies globally. A new project...
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, Family Farms and Youth 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, preserving biodiversity, while also coping with climate change and reducing the risk of disasters affecting agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Stories from the field
Today, the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) agreed to support FAO projects in Azerbaijan and Tajikistan worth a total of USD 12.5 million. These projects will contribute to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically those on sustainable management of water and life on land.
In the first, two new initiatives will reduce (and reverse) land degradation and conserve the biodiversity of protected areas, while in the second, sustainable water management will be supported with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Launched today, a new endeavor to strengthen sustainable and multipurpose forest management in Kosovo has set sail with the ultimate goal of tackling rural poverty and climate change[1]. Since forests have a major role in fighting climate change, they are also an important natural asset in Kosovo.
A valuable encounter at an FAO -organized study tour last year gave Keti Tomeishvili, a Georgian vegetable producer, the lucrative idea of growing culinary herbs alongside her cucumbers.