Climate change is one of the biggest global challenge of our times. Thousands of rural...
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
Bringing transformative agriculture solutions and building farmer resilience to those affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the European Union EU, FAO, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture have teamed up to develop an accelerated funding mechanism for Georgian farmers. Their efforts have unlocked USD 1 million in rapid funding for smallholder farmers experiencing difficulties during the pandemic.
This exceptional support will focus on co-funding modern drip irrigation kits that can be installed immediately.
Today, FAO concluded the distribution of 60 tonnes of high quality potato seeds to two farmer cooperative unions as part of a European Union-funded project in Tajikistan. The activity helps build small producers’ capacity and improve their livelihoods in northern Shahristan and central Nurobod districts.
FAO continues helping Armenia’s Ministry of Economy address agricultural land abandonment, affecting approximately one-third of all arable land in the country.
Considering the situation caused by COVID-19, whereby the issue of food security becomes even more important for the country, the re-engagement of abandoned agricultural land into production has become imperative.