In the heart of the Fergana Valley, Shaodatkhon Oripova, a 62-year-old mother of three, combats the challenges of rural farming with modern technology. Embracing the power of the internet of things, she exemplifies the transformative wave that the Digital Villages Initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) brings to farming communities in Uzbekistan.

A new FAO emergency and resilience project funded by Luxembourg will provide cash and voucher assistance to 1 500 war-affected families engaged in livestock production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with Mohii Tojikiston, the Tajik national authority responsible for fisheries and aquaculture development, held a workshop on warm-water aquaculture 22–23 August in Dushanbe. The workshop provided a venue for discussion of the challenges and opportunities to development of the aquaculture sector in the country, and updated participants on current warm-aquaculture technologies and production systems.

Following the Kyrgyz tradition, Manzura Orolbaeva welcomes guests with homemade bread and a saucer of melted butter. The bread is made from grain grown on their farm and the butter from the livestock they keep.

Following the evidence-based analysis of gender in the regional response to the war in Ukraine published last year, the Regional Gender Task Force, the leading advocacy and information and coordination platform on gender in humanitarian action in Europe and Central Asia, has released a new gender brief on Ukrainian refugees’ livelihoods and access to work in neighbouring countries.

As the world population grows, so will demand for food. To try to feed the rising population, agricultural production has increased globally by almost 300 percent over the past 50 years.

The first traces of cotton growing in Azerbaijan date back thousands of years. During the Soviet era, it was referred to as "white gold," accounting for approximately 25 percent of agricultural revenue. However, the transition to a free market economy, coupled with the rapid growth of alternative industries in the 1990s, contributed to cotton losing its key role.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has announced its commitment to assess the competence of veterinary graduates in the field of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial stewardship in selected countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia. 

Potatoes are cultivated in over 150 countries and consumed all over the world, including here in Europe and Central Asia where it is both an important crop and a staple in regional diets.  It is food, fodder, and a source of income for farmers.

By 2025, the Serbian food and agriculture sector should be more sustainable, innovative, and inclusive, and with better management of the country’s natural resources. These objectives are detailed in the Country Programming Framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Republic of Serbia.

Dairy and meat businesses in Central Asia, especially smaller ones, are being hit by multiple shocks – from the war in Ukraine, to droughts, to the lingering effects of COVID-19. 

To raise awareness of the importance of work to strengthen urban agrifood systems in the region of Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a webinar in early June focusing on the challenges and opportunities in urban food agrifood systems faced by countries in the region. 

An FAO project taking place in Türkiye and four Central Asian countries has made enormous strides in reducing the use of dangerous pesticides and promoting more natural methods of pest control in the region.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are working to unite Georgia's unique food heritage, traditions and landscapes, by strengthening the links between agriculture and tourism. 

Food safety saves lives. It is not only a crucial component of food security, but it also plays a vital role in reducing foodborne diseases that are estimated to affect every year 23 million people in Europe and Central Asia only. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have launched a joint programme in collaboration with mine action partner Fondation Suisse de Déminage (FSD) to support smallholder farmers and rural families most affected by the war. 

On 6 June 2023, a group of experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted an inception workshop in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, for a new digital cadastre project, “Support for the establishment of a digital land cadastre.”

According to estimates, in Europe and Central Asia, 42 percent of monitored terrestrial animal and plant species have declined in population in the past decade. It is now more important than ever before to conserve and use biodiversity sustainably, and to reduce the pressure on natural resources and ecosystems.

Several transboundary animal diseases are controlled with a “stamping out” policy, which consists of depopulation of the diseased animals, disposal of the infected carcasses and materials, followed by cleaning and disinfection of the affected farm. 

Ahead of Sustainable Gastronomy Day (18 June), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have issued a new publication for hotels, restaurants and catering enterprises (HoReCa) on how best to source food from local suppliers.