Highlights
Near East and North Africa Region at Seeds2Foods Global Exhibition 2026
18/10/2026
The FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) participated in the second edition of Seeds to Foods 2026 in Rome, from 8 to 12 October....
Exhibition
From Seeds to Foods
Events
4/11
2026
5/11
2026
2nd Edition of the Interregional Dialogues and Global Policy Solutions Forum for Family Farming: Innovations for Better Governance and Equitable Access to Land
Cairo (Egypt), Hybrid Event, 04/11/2026 - 05/11/2026
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Regional Offices for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), together with the Government of Brazil, will convene the second edition of the Interregional Dialogues and Global Policy Solutions Forum for Family Farming: Innovations for Better Governance and Equitable Access to...
Regional Priorities
Action Areas
Red Palm Weevil Eradication Programme
The Red Palm Weevil (RPW) Eradication Programme facilitates the coordination of regional efforts to ensure an integrated and sustainable approach to controlling the RPW and reducing its devastating effects on date palm production, the food and income security of rural communities, and the ecology of affected areas.
Youth empowerment
Young men and women have a key role to play in fostering sustainability, equity and resilience of agrifood systems in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region. FAO works with youth across the region to improve their access to high quality education and training, decent employment, rural institutions and critical assets and services, in agrifood value chains.
Sustainable and Inclusive Agrifood Value Chains
Sustainable and inclusive agrifood value chains development is a market-oriented and systems-based approach for assessing, understanding and improving the performance of agrifood value chains, to ensure their economic, social, and environmental and climate sustainability.
The UN Decade of Family Farming
The UN Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF) aims to shed new light on what it means to be a family farmer in a rapidly changing world and highlights more than ever before the important role family farmers play in eradicating hunger and shaping the future of our agri-food systems.
Addressing climate change in agrifood systems
FAO’s climate change activities aim to strengthen capacities of member countries to build resilient agrifood systems, and to plan, implement and report on climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in the agriculture sectors.
Rural advisory services for inclusive transformation in the Near East and North Africa
Rural advisory services (RAS) have a central role in equipping farmers with the knowledge and skills to cope with challenges and empower them to make informed decisions, link to markets and act collectively to improve their livelihoods and claim their agency in inclusive rural transformation.
The Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity for the Near East and North Africa
In order to help NENA countries address the food and water security challenges, the FAO’s Regional Office in the Near East and North Africa and its partners established the Water Scarcity Initiative.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment for inclusive food systems transformation
The Regional Office has a stand-alone programme of work on gender equality and women’s empowerment that addresses gender as a cross-cutting theme in all its regional priorities and initiatives.
One Country One Priority Product: Global Action on Green Development of Special Agricultural Products
The Global Action on Green Development of Special Agricultural Products (SAPs): One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) was launched by the FAO Director General in 2021. The initiative will aim to support countries in transforming their agrifood systems to be more sustainable, efficient, resilient and inclusive.
Social inclusion: leaving no one behind in agrifood system transformation
In NENA countries, poverty is predominantly rural. With small scale producers – including fishers and pastoralists – and landless rural workers facing growing marginalization, rural communities are left increasingly vulnerable to economic, political and environmental shocks. This and the high prevalence of gender disparities, youth unemployment, child labour and other forms of exclusion constitute a significant barrier to more equitable agrifood systems in the region.
Stories
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Blogs
Opinions
The Women Who Feed Nations: Cultivating Life in the Shadow of Drought and Conflict
02/11/2026
Long before dawn breaks across the parched expanse of the Near East and North Africa, the earth is already yielding to a woman's hands. Before the markets open or the rural economy grinds into motion, she is there. Unseen. Laboring in the quiet. Women coax life from unforgiving dust.
Greening agriculture, water scarcity and climate action
The importance of secure land rights for agrifood systems and rural livelihoods in NENA
02/11/2026
For billions of people, land is a place for food to grow, a source of income, a home, a safety net and a foundation for community life. Land also carries cultural and social significance, connecting generations to landscapes and traditional ways of managing natural resources.
Greening agriculture, water scarcity and climate action
What we learned from NERC: making youth engagement meaningful
26/10/2026
The future of agrifood systems in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) will be shaped by both the policies adopted today and the young people who will farm the land, launch agrifood enterprises, generate new knowledge, manage natural resources and help guide decision-making in the years ahead.
Greening agriculture, water scarcity and climate action
International Day of Rural Women - Recognizing the knowledge of rural women farmers and strengthening their opportunities
15/10/2026
Every day, rural women help feed their communities, sustain family livelihoods and care for the land. They preserve traditional crop varieties, conserve biodiversity, manage natural resources and find ways to keep farms productive in the face of changing environmental conditions.
Publications
Foot-and-mouth disease prevention and control strategy Near East Regional Roadmap 2026–2030
2026
The foot-and-mouth disease regional strategy provides a framework to guide actions and activities to optimize support to countries to implement their national FMD strategies. While most measures to prevent and control FMD will be undertaken by individual countries, regional-level actors have an important part to play in building and sharing the information and knowledge needed to control FMD, enhancing regional capacities and capabilities, and facilitating coordination and partnerships.
Mycotoxins in food systems in the Near East and North Africa Regional assessment of prevalence, regulations and priority actions
2026
Mycotoxins in food systems in the Near East and North Africa; Regional assessment of prevalence, regulations and priority actions is a regional technical report provides a comprehensive assessment of mycotoxin contamination risks in food systems across the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, with a focus on implications for food safety, public health, trade, food security, and regulatory governance.
Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region, 3rd Quarter 2026 | Bulletin Financing anticipatory action for agriculture: From pilots to policy instruments
2026
The third quarterly bulletin provides an overview of key developments affecting food and agriculture in NENA during the third quarter of 2026, covering global and regional food prices, production conditions, food insecurity and major policy and investment measures.
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=88e9f5ea_3 "Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=a8ad9034_2 "The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=dfbaa9f2_2 "Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=4eb83e5b_2 "Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=b68ea809_3 "Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=26bd6c6b_2 "Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=2b881a9b_2 "The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=ae3a73a3_2 "Regional Centre on Agrarian Reform & Rural Development for the Near East(CARDNE)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=5fad0e0e_2 "Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=adacc503_2 "Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)")
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=8bd62a66_1 "Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)")