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.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade and global food supply chains, it also created new options and preferences among consumers for local food products. This underscores the importance of a well-functioning food system that can supply enough good quality, affordable food for all, at all times.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today launched in the Europe and Central Asia region the Global Action on Green Development of Special Agricultural Products: One Country One Priority Product. This global initiative aims to make agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.

New $17 million Japan-funded project aims to address grain storage deficit and increase export of critical agricultural goods to international markets.

Following an intense week with a symposium in which 105 scientists participated and a session with 15 Member countries, the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC)adopted for the first time resolutions and recommendations on inland fisheries and aquaculture.

Setting the basis for developing an integrated whole-of-government National Food Security Strategy in North Macedonia will be the focus of a new FAO project. The project was launched today through an event in Skopje, organized by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy in partnership with the Rural Development Network of North Macedonia.

In the countries of Europe and Central Asia, about half of the population lives in rural territories, with those people who produce the food we eat among them. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the Europe and Central Asia region, requires an increased attention to rural communities.

The war caught Larysa Zueva while she was working a shift at a psychiatric hospital in Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. She spent more than a month with her grandson in the hospital's shelter with about 200 other people. Despite the attacks, her work at the hospital continued. When the gas lines were cut, they resorted to cooking on an open fire, still managing to feed and care for their patients.

Today North Macedonia concluded the country's second Green Climate Fund (GCF) readiness project, laying the foundation for country-driven climate action in the future. The closing event in Skopje was organized by FAO and the Cabinet of the Deputy President of the Government in charge of economic affairs, in its capacity as GCF National Designated Authority for the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

A study tour brought representatives of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and North Macedonia to Hungary to learn about improving their seed systems. The visit on 16–20 May constituted part of an FAO project aiming to enhance climate resilience in agriculture.

Single-use cutlery pollutes our oceans and takes thousands of years to decompose in landfills and trash heaps. Plastic forks and knives may photo-degrade with exposure to the sun, but they become microplastics that continue to pollute our environment.  

Sharing regional experiences and best practices on land consolidation, land banking, and land abandonment will be the focus of the 13th international LANDNET workshop. Targeting in particular countries of Europe and Central Asia, the event takes place in a hybrid format from 25–27 May in Skopje.

Working to safeguard the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable rural families in Ukraine, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has distributed seed potato kits to 17 740 households from across ten of the country’s oblasts so they can plant food in time for the next harvesting season.

Countries of Europe and Central Asia are united in protecting food production, supplies and trade, even during times of war. For days at the Thirty-third Session of the Regional Conference for Europe in Łódź, Poland, 50-plus FAO Members discussed possible paths and approaches for realizing this goal and for improving nutrition and food security in the region and around the globe.

Ensuring better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – the “four betters” – in Europe and Central Asia is the end goal as discussions continue on the second day of the Regional Conference for Europe in Lodz, Poland. 

Ministers and high-level representatives from across Europe and Central Asia met today at the FAO Regional Conference for Europe (ERC33) to discuss not only the implications of the war in Ukraine on global agrifood systems and world food security, but also ways of accelerating efforts to transform agrifood systems to assure inclusive and environmentally-friendly development and achieve better nutrition, both regionally and beyond.

Once again, FAO is providing assistance to civil society organizations as they review the achievements of recent years and come up with recommendations for the future. Starting today in Łódź, Poland, a two-day civil society consultation takes place back-to-back with the Regional Conference for Europe, the Organization’s highest governing body for the Europe and Central Asia region.

Digital agriculture has great potential to foster the transformation of agrifood systems and  promote rural development, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), emphasized today at the high-level international conference Vision for the future: transition to digital agriculture, held in Azerbaijan.