Naile lives in a small Turkish rural town called Yolu, situated in the district of Suruç, Şanlıurfa province, a few kilometres from Syria. From afar, she used to watch her neighbours in Kobani, Syria, through the wire mesh of the border fence. With her neighbours she shared the Kurdish language...

Countries of the vast and diverse Europe and Central Asia region receive guidance on an eco-friendly transformation of their agrifood systems. Current agricultural systems of the region are extremely polarized with large-scale intensive agriculture and smallholder farming being at opposite ends. A new approach, called nature-based solutions, can help integrate both...

Azerbaijani and Georgian teas took centre stage during an online celebration on the eve of the second International Tea Day. FAO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hosted the roundtable event to highlight the countries’ potential to produce high quality and specialty teas. They also shared findings from their...

A country-wide competition in Georgia that is reaching out to all age groups aims to generate new interest in and knowledge of agriculture. The Olympiad competition, part of an Austria-funded FAO project, will see contestants battle in one out in four categories – farmer, student, schoolchildren, practitioner – with the...

The state of food security and nutrition in the world, including that of the Europe and Central Asia region, was marked in 2020 by the outbreak of COVID-19 and resulting disruptions to markets, trade and food supply chains. The pandemic has had a negative effect on food security in the...

As elsewhere in the world, women in Ukraine represent a large proportion of the agricultural labour force and the majority of food producers, and thus play key roles in managing natural resources and promoting the well-being of their families. To explore and analyse gender issues in agriculture and food security, the...

The guts, heads, skin or any other part of the fish that people do not eat can be turned into organic fertiliser by fermenting or composting it. Fish waste is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and vitamins. By applying fish fertiliser, we can increase the good microbes in the soil,...

In the Republic of Moldova, over 140 000 rural people will benefit from integrated natural resource management and the sustainability of land and water resources, thanks to a new USD 1.66 million project launched today. Financed by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and implemented by FAO in partnership with the Ministry...

The Atlas of typical food from Montenegro seeks to promote not only the high quality traditional products presented in this volume, but also to raise awareness of the importance of preserving and protecting Montenegrin culinary heritage, local traditions and the rural economy. This Atlas builds on the inventory of origin-linked...

Jacqueline Frantová was a young Swiss urbanite when she first came to the Czech Republic in the mid-nineties. It was the “Wild East”, a place where anything could happen. Little did she suspect she would become a shepherdess. Today Jacqueline and her Bohemian family raise goats, sheep and cows in...

This report seeks to provide the countries in the Europe and Central Asia region with an overview and real examples of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) applied to agriculture. This is FAO’s first attempt to present NBS applied to agriculture especially pointed at the countries of this region, prompting the scaling-up of...

When grains are soaked in water for a while and left to germinate, they will put out shoots or sprouts. By absorbing water sprouted seed more than double their weight. Sprouts are easier to digest than grains, because sprouting converts nearly all of the starch in the grains into sugar....

FAO Armenia brochure is dedicated to the FAO's 75 anniversary and the work in Armenia since the founding of FAO Armenia Representation office in 2004. It covers the main projects implemented in the country, the major outputs, key stakeholders, beneficiaries, donors, etc. The purpose of this publication is to inform the...

Within the vast borders of Kazakhstan, the world’s ninth largest country, about two million families earn a living from the dairy sector. Small-scale farmers who own fewer than five cows produce 80 percent of the country’s raw milk. Kazakhstan’s dairy industry has significant potential for growth, but it still faces many...

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, so the saying goes. FAO, jointly with Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and other local partners, is helping to ensure Turkish consumers get their daily apple free of both pests and pesticides. Sustainable and safe fruit production that fosters economic, social, and...

A collective of organisations, coming together under the banner of the Nyéléni Europe Food Sovereignty Movement have just released a new report : “Roots of Resilience : Land Policy for an Agroecological Transition in Europe”. The report argues for an approach to land policy in Europe based on a model of land...

In this LIVESEED video, Riccardo Bocci from Rete Semi Rurali (IT) explains how to organise a field day. LIVESEED is a EU Horizon 2020-funded project that runs from 2017 to 2021. LIVESEEED aims to improve transparency and competitiveness of the organic seed and breeding sector, encouraging greater use of organic...

gribusiness is a profitable sector in the Russian Federation, which is rapidly gaining in popularity. Attracting generous state support in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, grants and land allocation, this is an area that is destined to grow, with strong potential for the country’s economy, as well as for...

From baking sweets to raising chickens, the members of Arzu Women’s Group in the Ismayilli region of Azerbaijan have found a variety of ways to improve their income while gaining new knowledge in farming, innovative technologies and business planning.  The group, formed in Sumagalli village under the Agro Action of Azerbaijani Women Project with income generated by the women...

The region of Europe and Central Asia is an economic and agricultural powerhouse that boasts diverse cultures, agri-food systems and climatic zones, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said today. This diversity, he added, provides opportunities to share experience and good practices within the region and beyond, but to tap this potential...