The survival of our species and of the planet itself depends on a healthy and biodiverse plant ecosystem. As part of its work to conserve biodiversity and encourage sustainable agriculture FAO is organizing a virtual event for countries of Europe and Central Asia today on current issues in plant protection. The webinar will address new phytosanitary treatments adopted and applied internationally, as well as the use of biological control agents for pest control.

A training workshop “Towards the development of a roadmap for the digitalization of agriculture in Tajikistan” takes place today in Dushanbe, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in close cooperation with the Ministry of the Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan.  

To support agricultural actors maximizing the benefits of migration, while minimizing the costs for migrants and societies in general, specifically in rural areas, FAO is organizing a regional workshop on mainstreaming agriculture and rural development into migration governance and vice versa, starting today.

Fostering gender equality and rural women’s empowerment are global programme and policy priorities of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In Europe and Central Asia, the Organization’s efforts are guided by the Regional Strategy for Gender Equality (2019–2022). Now, as the timeframe for the document runs out and, given the new challenges that have emerged in the past years, it is time to discuss the way forward.

Under the annual theme “Preventing antimicrobial resistance together,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is planning various activities during the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022 to raise awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Europe and Central Asia.

Carp was once the “King of Lake Shkodër”. Found in abundance in the largest inland body of water in the Balkan Peninsula, carp was a lifeline for fishers and their communities for generations. The lake, situated on the border of Albania and Montenegro, was also the home of birds, eels, freshwater snails and several fish species. The lake’s communities were fishing communities and until recently, people always thought of themselves as fishers.

How Uzbekistan’s farmers are overcoming soil salinity and water shortages  

All across Europe and Central Asia, there is a growing desire among consumers to buy local healthy food that is produced in a way that is less harmful to the environment and biodiversity. Permaculture, foraging spontaneous plants and community seeds production are interrelated approaches implemented in the region to glean and grow food in a sustainable manner. To broaden knowledge on these traditional and innovative approaches and their benefits, FAO organized a regional workshop on permaculture and community seed development in collaboration with Gradina Moldovei, a Moldovan association specialized in the topic.

A new project by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with Republic of Tajikistan’s state institution Agricultural Entrepreneurship Development Project Management Unit,  will provide technical assistance to the country to strengthen resilience of the agriculture sector.

World Food Day is commemorated every year on 16 October, the date FAO was founded in 1945. The theme this year was “Leave NO ONE Behind.” The day highlighted that, although we have made progress towards building a better world, we are off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.

Eliminating hunger and the transformation of agrifood systems into sustainable systems are ambitious goals for which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working towards every day. Yet, the Organization is lucky to rely on its partners’ resources, too, including academia, research institutions, and universities.

The fifteenth of October is the International Day of Rural Women. This is a day to recognize that women’s empowerment and gender equality can lead to better lives, better production, and a better environment for all.

Today's global crises of the ongoing pandemic, conflicts, climate change, inflation and international tensions all have a serious impact on food security. More than 800 million people suffer from hunger worldwide, and the number is rising sharply, so there is a greater need than ever for governments, private sector, and the civil society to take action to alleviate hunger collaborate, as well as for raising the awareness of the public. 

In the last decade, rural communities in Europe and Central Asia have been increasingly exposed to multiple risks, increasing their vulnerability to poverty and other shocks. Recognizing the importance of social protection systems in addressing these challenges, FAO released a regional report that analyzes the specific risks and vulnerabilities faced by rural populations.

On 5–6 October the regional conference on food loss and waste in Europe and Central Asia “Enabling the change” took place to explore and discuss strategies, tools, and practical interventions to reduce food loss and waste and to identify the essential elements of environments conducive to the transition to sustainable food value chains. 

In 1989, a disease outbreak left cocoa plants and production in Brazil’s eastern state, Bahia, fully devastated. The land became abandoned until a group of rural farmers, who used to work on those fields, saw the untapped potential and rehabilitated it. 

Cotton production plays an important role in the economies of the Republic of Türkiye and many Central Asian countries, including Turkmenistan. Celebrated on World Cotton Day (7 October), cotton provides the basic input for the textile industry, contributing to export revenues of those countries and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and workers engaged in the cotton value chain.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a new project in the Republic of Tajikistan to improve regulations for the protection and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge on the topic. The three-year undertaking, “Facilitating agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable use to promote food and nutritional resilience in Tajikistan,” is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

In the Republic of Moldova, far more women living in rural areas are at risk of poverty compared with men and with urban populations. The recently released National Gender Profile on Agricultural and Rural Livelihoods in the Republic of Moldova presents a snapshot of gender inequalities that affect various aspects of agricultural production and rural livelihoods in the country.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new USD 40 million (Canadian Dollar 52 million) Canada-funded project to further address grain storage shortages in Ukraine.