Khudoidod Rasulov’s vocation as a teacher and his interest in information technology from an early age make him a uniquely valuable figure in his village of Lolazor some 30 kilometers east of Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. He’s the go-to person whenever fellow villagers need information to help better cultivate their orchards and market their produce online. So it’s not surprising that he’s played a key role as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has implemented its Digital Villages Initiative in Lolazor.

Kyrgyzstan’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, the productivity of which largely depends on water availability. Much of that water is meltwater from the mountains, where climate change is having a serious negative effect on the environment. Glaciers are melting and snowfall is becoming inadequate to replenish the shortfall in the volume of water available to agriculture. Water has become an important issue for Kyrgyzstan and its farming communities. Due to water scarcity, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Government of Kyrgyzstan and scientists from the Irrigation Institute have joined forces to address the issue of field water accounting.

In the picturesque landscape of northern Albania's Tropoja region, nestled within the expansive chestnut forest massif, an ambitious initiative is taking shape. The chestnut sector is now the focus of the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The programme is a global FAO initiative that helps countries identify and then leverage the potential of special agricultural products to facilitate improved access to stable markets and acting as a key entry point for reaching their defined priorities. Special Agricultural Products are those which are unique to their agroecological production systems or of importance to national or cultural heritage. 

A stakeholders’ meeting in Rome marked a pivotal step towards greater private sector engagement for climate-smart agrifood systems. It was held as part of a joint project of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to decarbonize selected agrifood value chains and make them more resilient to climate change.

Private sector organizations from Europe and Central Asia are preparing to make a collective statement to the upcoming Thirty-fourth Session of the Regional Conference for Europe and Central Asia (ERC34) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which will be hosted by the Republic of Moldova at FAO headquarters in Rome, 14 to 17 May. 

To address these issues at their roots, the Global Soil Doctors Programme, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is creating a legion of “soil doctors”, educated and trained to support farmers on sustainable soil management. This programme, a key initiative of the Global Soil Partnership, provides heaps of educational resources to support the doctors and farmers to teach and learn from each other.

On 25 April, Otar Shamugia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and Raimund Jehle, Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Georgia signed a project agreement for EUR 4 million, financed by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) on “Inclusive Rural Development and Sustainable Agriculture.” The goal of the project is to foster increased competitiveness within the agricultural sector, improve the effectiveness of policies related to gender responsive and social inclusivity, enhance food production, and concurrently alleviate rural poverty, with a specific emphasis on mitigating inequalities faced by women and youth.

Agricultural land is where food production starts; if managed well, it can boost rural economies. This is especially true for countries that are scarce of arable land. With this in mind, Montenegro has turned to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for support. A new project now in full swing is helping the country in formulating its new land policy, improving the management of state land, and piloting land consolidation.

In aquaculture, seed encompasses the different life stages of the young species – from egg to juveniles. Therefore, improving fish farmers’ access to quality seed is key to the growth of successful small-scale aquaculture, especially in developing countries. The ways and means to meet this need was the main theme of the discussions at an expert workshop co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences and held in Szarvas, Hungary, 27—28 March 2024.

Horticulture can not only help farmers improve their incomes and livelihoods but also offer nutritious food and healthy diets for citizens in Bishkek and around the world. However, achieving this will require a great deal of innovation.

For this reason, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, launched the project “Introduction and promotion of innovative approaches for adopting best technologies for horticulture” in 2023 that aims to introduce and promote advanced practices and innovative solutions in horticulture in Kyrgyzstan.

Locust infestations, aggravated by climate change and environmental factors, are a serious problem for agricultural production in Tajikistan, threatening food security and economic stability. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the country via regional projects as part of its “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Central Asia and Caucasus (CCA)”.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) helped organize the GCF Regional Dialogue with Eastern Europe and Central Asia and fostered peer-to-peer learning related to country experiences and best practices. In facilitating the identification and development of climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives, FAO strengthened the GCF’s impact in the region.

The International Day of Zero Waste reminds us of the need for action at all levels and collaboration among diverse actors. Working together, we can create a transformative shift towards a more resilient and sustainable food system that ensures a better future for generations to come. The BioDAF project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), for example, has set up a farm school for the production of black soldier fly larvae. The larvae feed on organic waste and thereby reduce food waste. The dried larvae are used as animal feed in agriculture, and the frass can be turned into organic fertilizer.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is taking a leap forward in bolstering animal health training globally. The FAO Virtual Learning Center (VLC) for the Europe and Central Asia region has secured accreditation for three of its online courses through the Veterinary Continuing Education in Europe (VetCEE) – an international non-profit association founded as a joint initiative of veterinary academia, specialists and the profession. These accredited courses include topics as diverse as biosecurity for ruminants, African swine fever preparedness, and an introduction to One Health.

Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensuring a sustainable future for all is central to the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Data released by FAO from 2023 showed that the world is off-track to meet most of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets linked to hunger, food security, and nutrition. Given the increasingly short deadline to meet the 2030 Agenda, FAO, in collaboration with UN partners, has contributed to the 2024 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, an event that provided a venue for participants to exchange knowledge, best practices, and policy solutions to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Zoonotic diseases – diseases that can pass between animals and people – continue to have major impacts on human health and cause economic losses. To support the Kyrgyz Republic in controlling such diseases, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Government of the United States of America through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic launched the Global health security and pandemic preparedness programme. It should enhance the One Health approach in the country and support its ability to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic and other public health threats. 

On March 12–13 the first National Forum of Cooperatives in Tajikistan was convened, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan. The forum provided a platform for participants who were representatives of government authorities of Tajikistan, FAO, cooperatives, development partners, scientific and expert circles of Tajikistan to share knowledge, debate current issues and consider potential future developments of national cooperatives.

Slovenia has become the latest country to join the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission. Mateja Čalušić, Slovenia’s Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food, submitted a letter to QU Dongyu, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on 18 January 2024, expressing Slovenia’s wish to join EIFAAC.

For International Women’s Day, the perspectives of three remarkable women, are in the spotlight: an entrepreneur and community organizer from rural Albania, a distinguished academic from Türkiye, and a forward-thinking policy-maker from Uzbekistan.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which had been supporting the cooperative even before the earthquake, stepped in to help the collective get back on its feet. By providing machinery and equipment, FAO ensured that women-led cooperatives received the help they needed to rebuild and recover. Such initiatives align with FAO's commitment to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems. These go a long way in advancing progress and enhancing the resilience and food security of households and communities.