A project under the joint Partnership Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Türkiye has become a productive gateway for strengthening bilateral relations between Türkiye and Nigeria. Entitled “Support to the Diversification and Sustainable Crop Production Intensification for Smallholder Farmers in the Drylands of Borno State, Nigeria”, the project connects relevant institutions in the two countries with the support of FAO. This collaboration promotes sustainable agricultural practices by diversifying cropping systems and fostering sustainable crop management techniques for drylands in the state. The ultimate goal is to transform agrifood systems in Borno State, Nigeria, where the livelihoods of 5.6 million people largely depend on small-scale subsistence agriculture.

The  AgriTech Observatory, established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has made significant strides since its  launch in February and is now in full-scale operation. The tool monitors the rapidly evolving landscape of digital agriculture in Europe and Central Asia and identifies innovative solutions to regional challenges. One of the major advances includes the expansion of the platform's database to now host over 270 digital agriculture initiatives. This growing repository provides comprehensive insights into the latest innovations, helping practitioners, policymakers, and researchers stay informed about the current and emerging landscape of digital agriculture in the region.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published a special issue of its Unasylva journal on the restoration of Mediterranean forests, which are increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change and human activity. Unasylva 255 - Restoring the Mediterranean region: status and challenges, explores, through 13 expert articles, the extent of ecosystem restoration in the region over recent years, the advances and the challenges, as well as the tools and approaches that can help increase the quality and quantity of restoration work. 

Women are vital to the livelihoods and the economies of rural areas and smallholder agriculture in Kosovo¹, yet they do not benefit equally with men from their labour and contributions.

To map the situation and provide a possible way forward, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the Kosovo gender profile for agriculture and rural livelihoods that aims to improve knowledge on gender related issues in agriculture, with special attention to the state of digitalization. The publication provides evidence based recommendations for advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in agriculture and rural development for improved strategies and programmes.

Building on the success of the initial stage of the land consolidation programme, the European Union (EU), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), continue to support the process of bringing together fragmented agricultural parcels, improving agricultural infrastructure and developing quality policy and legislation in North Macedonia. An equally important outcome is that it also helps the country come closer to sustainable land use and food systems, which are among the goals of the European Green Deal and the 2030 Agenda.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has provided advanced tools and training in techniques in forest data collection and forest fire management to experts from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Türkiye. 
Representatives from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gathered in Antalya, Türkiye from 8 to 12 July 2024 for the event, which was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the General Directorate of Forestry of Türkiye.

A landmark workshop held recently launched a project that will transform the table grape sector in the Republic of Moldova to be more sustainable, resilient and competitive. The workshop brought together 70 key partners, including producers, processors, retailers, government officials, and representatives from international organizations to exchange views and share expectations of the project outputs. The project is a collaborative effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a significant global health threat affecting humans, animals, plants, and the environment, and as such is a perfect example of a One Health issue. In an effort to combat AMR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has implemented Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) surveys aligned with the objectives in its Action Plan on AMR and the Global Action Plan on AMR. Conducted from 2020 to 2023, these surveys revealed antimicrobial use practices and awareness of AMR in the livestock sector of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo¹, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

FAO’s Virtual Learning Center for Europe and Central Asia recently developed and delivered a new virtual learning tutored course on improving ruminant biosecurity. This capacity building tool aims to equip field veterinarians and industry professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to assess and improve biosecurity on all sorts of ruminant farms. The course was developed in collaboration with experts from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) with support from Lleida University (UdL) and LleidaVet in Spain.

Agritourism is a great example of a systems approach that brings together many interrelated sectors: agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, marketing, food, culture and local economies. Addressing these as a whole allows countries to see key blockages to change as well as emerging opportunities for growth. In 2022, to support the Albanian government in this quest, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean (SFS-MED) project, provided trainings, facilitated dialogues between national and local representatives and lent expertise to stakeholders from various sectors to strengthen agritourism and enhance rural livelihoods.

An ongoing initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is backing Montenegro’s pursuit to improve forest management planning and monitoring in the country’s private forests. In the framework of the FAO project, Montenegro’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management welcomed representatives of Slovenia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, the Forest Service, and the Forestry Institute from 17 to 19 June 2024 in Montenegro, for a second time to discuss new approaches to forest management planning and monitoring in private forests.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) office in Bishkek is now lead by Oleg Guchgeldiyev, as he took up his duties today as FAO Representative in Kyrgyzstan. Oleg Guchgeldiyev, a professional with broad experience in climate change, environmental strategic planning and biodiversity conservation, joined FAO in 2016 as regional coordinator for development of a large-scale project for Central Asian countries and Türkiye on sustainable land management. Since 2018, he has been serving as FAO Representative in Tajikistan.

Every year on 7 June, World Food Safety Day emphasizes the collective, societal nature of food safety work. The 2024 theme calls for all actors along the food value chain to prepare for emerging threats. On Tuesday, a webinar brought together experts of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to inform and inspire food safety professionals from across Europe and Central Asia to better manage food safety risks – both those known and those emergent. The virtual event contributed to the understanding of how to prevent future food safety incidents and crises, how to recognize and better prepare for them, and was an opportunity learn from actual examples from the region.

In 2022, the Republic of Moldova faced an extreme drought that led to 50 - 60 percent losses in some of their crops. With this loss of income and increased input prices, families with animals couldn’t buy the necessary animal feed. In response, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) distributed cattle fodder to 2 638 families across five districts in 2023. Each family received between 350 and 375 kg of fodder, which was vital in addressing existing feed shortages.

For both the Ariljska malina and Oblačinka from Oblačina sour cherry, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) worked closely with Serbia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the Intellectual Property Office to assist Serbian producers and processors in developing production specifications, registering and certifying the fruits as GIs (geographical indication label).

A three-day seminar on One Health, co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), concluded on 13 June in Vienna. The meeting, hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Health and held at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, brought together representatives from 38 government agencies across Europe and Central Asia, including ministries of health, agriculture, and environment as well as regional and subregional organizations, institutions, collaborating centres, reference laboratories, relevant actors. 

FAO and the Regional Centre for Forestry and Rural Development (REFORD) in North Macedonia hosted the annual international meeting of the Forest Invasive Species Network for Europe and Central Asia (REUFIS) from 4 to 6 June 2024 in Skopje, North Macedonia. The primary focus of this year’s meeting was the role of invasive species in urban forest planning. During this three-day event, participants explored the relationship between invasive species and urban forestry.

Given the importance of Ukraine to global food production, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continues to support the country in its efforts to maintain food security, said FAO Regional Programme Leader for Europe and Central Asia Raimund Jehle at the Ukraine Recovery Conference yesterday in Berlin. FAO’s 2024 Emergency Response Plan is carried out jointly with the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and national and international partners, including the European Union.

Disease outbreaks severely constrain aquaculture development, and the processes for controlling diseases and managing health are different in aquaculture than in the terrestrial livestock sector, primarily due to the fluid environment. For this reason, Kyrgyzstan, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has begun to develop a national action plan for the control of fish diseases. The project supports fish farms through the implementation of best practices in fish health management, biosafety on fish farms and the planning of production activities. This can help improve product quality and increase production volumes.

Agriculture ministers from the five Central Asian countries came together at a virtual meeting today to discuss and share examples of sustainable locust management. Facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the meeting was the eighth annual gathering of the ministers, with Kazakhstan serving as this year’s host. The goal of the meeting was to strengthen cross-border and long-term regional cooperation and to share experience, knowledge and lessons learned from locust campaigns. The meeting also covered advanced approaches to improving country capacities and supporting a preventive approach for better locust management and the reduction of risks related to locust outbreaks.