“The airborne spores of rusts do not respect borders, as Norman Borlaug indicated,” says Fazil Dusunceli, Plant Pathologist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), referring to the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his contribution to the Green Revolution. “The rust fungi mutate into new strains which travel in the air, creating new risks in different regions in their trail.” 

Plants provide essential resources to life on Earth. Agrifood systems and food cultures in Europe and Central Asia are heavily dependent on plants – a dependence which relies on those plants being healthy and thriving. Protecting plant health under the holistic One Health approach can help countries of the region boost economic development, reduce rural poverty, support biodiversity, and improve nutrition. Therefore, this year’s International Day of Plant Health, celebrated globally on 12 May, focuses on plants as a critical pillar within One Health.

Forests are critical to Armenia, in part for their importance in mitigating the effects of climate change. As highlighted by Aram Meymaryan, Deputy Minister of Environment of Armenia, at a 29 April meeting for a project to cultivate 5 000 ha of forest in the country, particularly in the northern Lori and southern Syunik regions. Funded primarily by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the project leverages resources and expertise from other actors, including the Government of Armenia, the Austrian Development Agency, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Italy), World Wildlife Fund for Nature Armenia, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Montenegro, rich in forest resources, faces increasing climate-related challenges such as droughts, floods, and forest fires. The country has demonstrated its commitment to climate action through its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) (2025), targeting a total of 55 percent reduction in national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 from all sectors including the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU).. Despite the recognition of its importance in terms of vulnerability and contribution to emissions, data information gaps continue to exist, limiting the ability to design and implement targeted actions, specifically also for AFOLU sectors.

A group of municipality representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia visited Mafra, a Portuguese municipality, last week to learn more from its example on localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mafra has shown a strong commitment in overall SDG implementation at the municipal level and in the development of a Voluntary Local Review (VLR), the internationally accepted process to review the implementation of SDGs at sub-national level. 

For farmers in Uzbekistan’s borderlands, even the threat of a sick goat can jeopardize an entire season. Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) — a highly contagious viral disease affecting sheep and goats — has never been officially detected in the country. However, as part of regional preparedness efforts, Uzbekistan is taking proactive measures to safeguard animal health. Recent trends in transboundary animal disease outbreaks across several regions underscore the importance of early warning systems and regional preparedness. With mortality rates in infected flocks reaching up to 90 percent, PPR has devastating consequences for rural livelihoods, particularly among smallholder farmers and women engaged in livestock production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of North Macedonia, organized a national consultation workshop on 28 April in Skopje to accelerate the digital transformation of the agrifood sector. The event gathered around 40 attendees, including farmers, young students and representatives from government institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector, to discuss the current state of digitalization in agriculture and jointly develop concrete policy recommendations for sustainable progress.

Stakeholders from across Turkmenistan gathered in Ashgabat on 17 April 2025 for a consultation focused on accelerating the country's access to climate finance by identifying crucial climate-resilient technologies and boosting private-sector engagement in climate action. The consultation was part of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness project Improving the Capacity of Turkmenistan to Access Climate Finance through Capacity Building and Strategic Frameworks. 

Strong, sustainable forest governance, underpinned by technical data, digital technologies, and institutional capacity are the necessary foundation to ensure the economic benefits of the forest sector to rural livelihoods and to mitigate climate change impacts. As part of the European Union and Sweden-funded programme to support sustainable and multipurpose forest management, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a targeted training to enhance the capacities of Kosovan officials for assessing and monitoring the economic aspects of the forestry sector. 

Just a few days before Stop Food Waste Day on 30 April, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has successfully delivered the first regional edition of a virtual learning course on tackling food loss and waste (FLW). Developed in collaboration with the International Food Waste Coalition (now part of the Waste and Resources Action Programme Europe) and hosted on FAO’s Virtual Learning Center, the course offered a hands-on, practical training experience tailored for key actors in the region’s agrifood value chains and systems.