Women farmers often cultivate land for years without having the power to own it, decide how it is used or benefit from the resources and income it generates. That gap between working the land and controlling it was at the centre of a interregional exchange convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 29 September. The event brought together nearly 90 participants from sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East and North Africa, and Europe and Central Asia to exchange experiences and examine what it takes to close the gap between rights recognized in law and rights women can exercise in practice.

“I love planting these seeds because they represent more than harvests. They connect us to our traditions, support our communities and remind us that agrobiodiversity begins in farmers’ fields.”
In Shahristan district, in Tajikistan’s northern Sughd region, where farming families rely on every harvest, agrobiodiversity often survives because of the dedication of individuals. One of them is Gulbar Mirmahmedova, a 46-year-old mother of two and a farmer whose fields have become a living repository of traditional crops.

Restoring freshwater habitats, strengthening climate resilience and supporting sustainable freshwater aquaculture through innovation and effective management emerged as key priorities at the 2026 International Symposium of the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC), a statutory body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 

Under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and with guidance from the Codex Secretariat, countries from across Europe and Central Asia gathered in Berlin for five days of discussions hosted by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH). Key topics included strengthening food safety, communicating risks more effectively and supporting healthier, more sustainable diets.

Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a workshop held in early September in Minsk helped explore how Belarus could further develop its geographical indication system to support local producers and rural development. As part of the FAO project on strengthening sustainable food systems through geographical indications, discussions focused on the main barriers to wider registration and use and on practical measures to strengthen producer cooperation, quality control and promotion. 

Shete Kemoklidze has been around hazelnuts for most of his 31 years.
"I grew up with hazelnuts," he says. "I was 13 when my father was planting this orchard. In winter, he would get me up at five in the morning, and we did all of it together."

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the National Agency for Land Improvement (ANIF) and with scientific support from the National Institute for Applied Research in Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (IP INCAAMV), has launched a soil sampling campaign at six permanent soil monitoring sites in the districts of Orhei and Rezina. The activity is part of the land degradation neutrality project, implemented by FAO and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

For years, Mukambarxon Umarova’s family depended on their greenhouse, but every growing season brought uncertainty. Today, she manages the entire production cycle herself – from preparing the soil and selecting seeds to protecting the plants and harvesting the crop.
The turning point came in 2022, when Mukambarxon joined an initiative supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The project called “Smart farming for the future generation”, is implemented by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, with financial support from Korea.

The Regional Laboratory Network on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Food and Agriculture in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia concluded its fifth annual consultation meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, marking another milestone in a regional initiative that has grown into an established platform for technical cooperation on AMR surveillance and laboratory capacity.

Creating a new generation of farmers requires more than encouraging young people to enter agriculture. It means ensuring that they can build viable livelihoods, access land, finance and markets, and see rural areas as places where they can build their future. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu opened the High-Level Ministerial Conference on Generational Renewal in Rural Areas alongside David Vlajčić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Croatia. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the State Association of Livestock and Poultry Industry of Turkmenistan have launched a new project to strengthen cattle breeding and expand access to reliable, high-quality artificial insemination services across the country. The project aims to increase the number of pedigree cattle in Turkmenistan and to increase national capacity to provide effective and high-quality artificial insemination services to support the widespread introduction of livestock breeding methods using modern digital technologies. 

Today, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) opened the joint Seventeenth International LANDNET Workshop and Second Interregional Dialogue on Family Farming, convening policymakers, land professionals, researchers and representatives of civil society and the private sector to identify practical solutions for more equitable access to land and improved land governance.

Chestnut trees provide food, income and environmental benefits to communities around the world and are an important part of many forest ecosystems. They are an important species across Europe and Central Asia. Yet these valuable trees continue to face a major threat from chestnut blight, a devastating plant disease that has transformed chestnut forests in many regions. To raise awareness of this disease and support its diagnosis and management, the Virtual Learning Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new self-paced online course on chestnut blight: Understanding, identifying and managing the disease.

Remzije was among the rural women supported through the project Promoting Rural Women's Empowerment in Kosovo, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) with support from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). 

QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today called for a systemic and inclusive approach to securing a sustainable future for the next generation of farmers and rural communities. Speaking at the High-Level Ministerial Conference on Generational Renewal in Rural Areas hosted by Croatia, he stressed that enabling young people to choose agriculture and rural life requires not only support for farming, but also access to land, finance, knowledge and technology, as well as affordable housing, connectivity, childcare, education, health services and opportunities to build a family and a good life.

Ukraine is entering the peak harvest period at a time when disruptions to Black Sea export flows are further straining the country’s grain storage capacity. In response, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Mercy Corps, and the Ukrainian Red Cross – working closely with Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food – are launching a new programme to provide farmers with temporary grain storage solutions. Supported by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the United States Department of State, the initiative will help farmers across nine oblasts safely store their harvest as export constraints compound the impact of war-related damage to storage and logistics infrastructure.

Mamura Mingbaeva still wakes up before sunrise to work on her farm in Uzbekistan, just as she has done every day in the past 30 years. In her community, many rural women earn income by selling milk and sour cream, and she also learned milk processing in the family.

Natural hazards are unavoidable. The way we mitigate and manage them is within our control – and preparedness is the first line of defence. The Europe and Central Asia region is vulnerable to several types of natural hazards, including floods, storms, droughts, wildfires and landslides. Due to the effects of climate change, climate-related hazards in particular have increased in frequency and intensity over the past few decades. The agriculture sector and food security are heavily impacted by these phenomena. FAO estimates that the agriculture sector absorbs more than 26 percent of total economic costs from climate-related disasters.    

The Government of Tajikistan and the United Nations today convened the Second Joint Steering Committee meeting of the Joint SDG Fund Programme Transforming Food Systems for Better Nutrition in Tajikistan. Senior government officials, representatives of United Nations agencies and development partners met to review implementation progress, validate key achievements and provide strategic guidance for the programme’s next phase.

Serbia has taken an important step towards building more climate-resilient forests with its first national training of trainers on climate-adaptive silviculture. The three-day programme, held from 15 to 17 July 2026, united experts from research institutions, government and public forest enterprises who will play a leading role in introducing climate-adaptive forestry practices across Serbia.