FAO REU is continuing to support the NPPO of Belarus in addressing the lack of knowledge and skills on the use of modern laboratory equipment and inspection tools by provided trainings with involvement of high-level international experts. This is done by enhancing knowledge of specialized laboratory staff on modern laboratory...

Farmers in the conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine are learning about the legal and financial aspects of operating in cooperatives. In a series of training sessions during May and June, they will also acquire knowledge about efficient new technologies, business opportunities, and more. A new FAO project, financed by...

Although Ukraine is one of the world’s leading grain exporters, it has traditionally exported more bulk agricultural commodities than higher-value processed goods such as flour. The Third Grain Processors Forum: Market & Technologies took place in Odessa, Ukraine this week (28 and 29 September). The Forum was organized by the Union...

Vadym Svietlov and his partner Anna Dorosh are proud owners of a small grain farm near Sumy, a large town in northeastern Ukraine. The region established itself as an agricultural hub in the 19th century, starting with large-scale sugar beet production, followed by a wide range of crops ever since. The...

When living conditions for households along the conflict line in Eastern Ukraine went from bad to worse, help came from the Government of Canada. The allocation of CDN 3 million will bolster and extend FAO’s emergency response and recovery work in the area. This assistance from Canada, due to start in...

This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of gender equality, social protection...

Despite political and economic turbulence and global milk prices dropping to an all-time low, Ukraine’s commercial dairy industry has made impressive strides in recent years, producing higher-quality milk and tapping into new markets abroad. Thanks to an active Ukrainian Dairy Sector Working Group, created in 2013 by the country’s dairy industry...

Under the terms of an agreement, FAO will work with Ukraine to help the country improve its business climate, develop the agri-food production chain, facilitate access to markets, improve food security, carry out land reform, better manage natural resources and cope with climate change. The “FAO Country Programming Framework for Ukraine...

With the arrival of spring, small-scale farmers in the conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine are ready to get back to farming. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will be there to help, with initial assistance valued at US$ 800,000, the Organization announced today. Conflict in eastern Ukraine...

The objective of the Regional Technical Consultation was to initiate and support the dialogue with the stakeholders on smallholders and family farming related issues. The participants included representatives of Ministries of Agriculture and technical experts from the Eastern Partnership countries*. Bringing together Ministry representatives and technical people provide a possibility...

Ukraine agriculture has been evolving since the country achieved independence in 1991, following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The first round of farm reforms in 1992-93 initiated privatization of land through the distribution of paper shares to the rural population and mandated the transformation of former collective and state...

The present work takes guidance from the FAO  flagship publication, “The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2010-2011: Women in agriculture – Closing the gender gap for development” (FAO, 2011a). The SOFA report argues that, “despite the diversity in the roles and status of women in agriculture, the evidence...

Pasturing livestock in the conflict areas of eastern Ukraine has become too risky. With unexploded ordnance in the fields, thievery, and even losses due to shooting, farmers these days are keeping their animals close to home. The decision not to pasture comes with a price, though:  the price of fodder...

At least nine countries in the region stand united on the need to restore limited soil resources and stop alarming soil degradation trends. The “Izmir Communique’” and a related draft five-year implementation plan for the Eurasia region were adopted at the Second Plenary Meeting of the Eurasian Soil Partnership earlier...

The Tenth Ukraine–EU Dialogue on Agriculture took place on 21 April 2015 in Kyiv. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food in charge of European integration Ms. Vladyslava Rutytska, the EU delegation by the Deputy Director General for Agriculture and Rural Development Ms....

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine is currently preparing a single and comprehensive Strategy for agriculture and rural development 2015-2020 that will address the real needs of the sector through an inclusive consultation process with stakeholders, civil society and donors. It will outline credible short and medium-term...

For farmers in Ukraine, securing affordable pre-harvest financing for producing their crops just got easier. Thanks to the efforts of Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and FAO, a pilot project in the country's Poltava Oblast has issued the first “crop receipts”...

Ukraine, like many other countries, is involved in globalization processes which promote the growth of a vertically integrated agribusiness, fundamentally changing the agri-food structure and markets. Vertical business entities emerged in the early 2000s as highly competitive form of economic organization with a significant economic power through economies of scale...

A total of 7,000 three-week-old chickens are being distributed this week to small farms in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Provision of the birds is the latest move by FAO to help vulnerable households whose livelihoods have been compromised by the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. The dual-purpose chickens – which can...

This report presents a summary and the presentations of the expert workshop "Developments in agricultural commodity markets: a special focus on Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan", organised by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), in close cooperation with the European Commission's DG...