Highlights
FAO Near East and North Africa Region at Seeds2Foods Global Exhibition 2026: participant experience
03/11/2026
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
11/11
2026
FAO Agrifood Policy Majlis 26.02
Manama (Bahrain), 11/11/2026
Agrifood systems across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) face an evolving range of challenges, including climate change, water scarcity, global supply-chain disruptions and increasing pressures on food security. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated regional approaches, stronger partnerships and policies that support more sustainable, efficient and resilient food systems.
19/11
2026
Preventing Hazardous Child Labour in Agriculture: From Occupational Risks to Practical Action
Cairo (Egypt), 19/11/2026
Background
Agriculture remains the sector with the highest incidence of child labour worldwide. According to the latest ILO–UNICEF global estimates, nearly 138 million children were engaged in child labour in 2024, including approximately 54 million in hazardous work.
Across the Near East and North Africa region, children may be exposed to occupational hazards in...
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
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.
Technical Expertise
From burden to solutions: Advancing food safety across the Near East and North Africa
07/06/2026
Every meal should nourish, not harm. Yet millions of people continue to suffer from preventable foodborne illnesses every year, highlighting the urgent need for stronger food safety systems across the globe.
Categories: blog
Publications
Women's digital financial inclusion along the agrifood value chains in the NENA region
2026
Women play a critical role across agrifood value chains in the Near East and North Africa, yet persistent gender gaps in access to digital and formal financial services limit their productivity, resilience and economic opportunities. Structural barriers, including limited asset ownership, digital literacy, access to technology and gender-responsive financial services continue to constrain meaningful financial inclusion.
The State of the World’s Forests 2026 Restoring forests and landscapes – The way forward for a sustainable future
2026
This edition of The State of the World’s Forests examines how forest and landscape restoration can be scaled to deliver lasting benefits for people and the planet. Drawing on the latest evidence and experiences from around the world, it explores four key pathways for accelerating restoration
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.
.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)")