Priorities: food and nutrition security, reduction of rural poverty, and improved productivity in the face...
Regional Initiatives
Empowering smallholders and family farms
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.
As countries seek to expand local trade, increase political and economic ties to the European Union or join the World Trade Organization, they must integrate their trade systems with new markets and comply with new standards. Regional and global integration is imperative as the region becomes an increasingly important supplier of agricultural goods to international markets. This initiative helps countries understand trade implications, implement trade policy and engage in trade agreements.
Stories from the field
Bread is the staple food in the Republic of Tajikistan, and growing wheat is the traditional occupation of dehkan, or farmers, here. Boosting the grain yields of dehkan and improving national food security are a priority on which FAO is providing support.
Grain production is a grand pillar of agriculture in Azerbaijan, where the annual demand for wheat ranges from 3 to 3.5 million tonnes. With current yields, though, domestic production does not meet demand and the gap is filled with imported grain.
Many countries face a tough challenge in their drive to achieve food security – a challenge often overlooked by outsiders. They are geographically landlocked.