As part of the Global Forum on Green Agriculture and the second Regional Science and Innovation Week for Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (NENA) has convened a special session on the ninth of September 2025 to explore practical pathways for advancing greener, more resilient agrifood systems in the region.

In a one-day visit to Beirut, FAO Deputy Director-General, Maurizio Martina; FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Near East and North Africa, Abdul Hakim Elwaer; Director of FAO’s Office of Emergency and Resilience, Rein Paulsen; Piergiorgio Trentinaglia, Chief  Security, FAO Representative in Lebanon, Nora Ourabah Haddad and Etienne Careme, FAO Lebanon Liaison and Resilience Officer met with key partners to strengthen collaboration and foster transformative initiatives.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Virtual Learning Centers (VLCs), has launched a new open-access Arabic-language course titled “Climate Change Adaptation in the Livestock Sector.”

As part of its broader climate change agenda, FAO ...

The Second Meeting of the Arab Forum for Rural Advisory Services (AFRAS) is taking place in Cairo from 25 to 27 August 2025 under the theme “Leveraging Rural Advisory Services for Inclusive Rural Transformation in the Arab Region.” The three-day hybrid event, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), convenes policymakers, practitioners, researchers, civil society, farmer organizations, private sector representatives and development partners from across the Arab region. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE), in collaboration with the Project Support Division (PSS) at headquarters, successfully concluded a three-day Regional Training Workshop on “Driving Results Through Purposeful Partnerships: Enhancing Project Delivery under the Operational Partners Implementation Modality (OPIM) Framework” from 21 to 23 July 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.

More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today. Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

An important gathering – the Arab Bread Day Symposium – was held in Tunisia under the inspiring slogan "From Seed to Bread". The event was of great significance within the Arab region. The Arab Federation for Food Industries, the International Show Food Africa, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the Arab Center Organization for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dryland (ACSAD) and ARAF-Connect collaborated to organize the three-day event, in which the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations (FAO) participated. 

New York/Rome – Gaza faces the grave risk of famine as food consumption and nutrition indicators have reached their worst levels since the conflict began, according to data shared in the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Alert.

A two-day national workshop was held in Erbil from 8 to 9 July 2025 to evaluate progress in monitoring Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators under FAO custodianship. The event brought together national and regional experts, statisticians, and policymakers from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, the General Authority for Statistics and Geographic Information Systems (ASGIS), the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in the Kurdistan Region. The initiative was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under its Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a regional virtual training for Near East and North Africa (RNE) countries from 1 to 3 July 2025 to enhance national capacities in monitoring Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 2.4.1: “Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture.”

A high-level delegation from the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO) has conducted its first official visit to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representation in Morocco, marking a key milestone in advancing regional collaboration on plant health and protection across the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region.

Dans le cadre d’une avancée significative vers la transformation rurale, le Soudan a officiellement rejoint l’initiative mondiale «Un pays, un produit prioritaire» (OCOP) de la FAO en tant que 95e membre. Sa culture traditionnelle, le sorgho, a été désignée comme produit agricole spécial (PAS) spécifique au pays. Cette décision devrait autonomiser des millions d’agriculteurs soudanais et favoriser une chaîne de valeur alimentaire plus durable.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO-RNE), actively participated in the Regional Training Workshop on International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs), held in Rabat, Morocco, on 14–15 July 2025. The workshop was organized by the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO), and in cooperation with the FAO-RNE and the FAO Subregional Office for North Africa (FAO-SNE).

L’Afrique et l’Asie peuvent apprendre l’une de l’autre à utiliser l’innovation et la promotion des marques nationales pour transformer les systèmes agroalimentaires, améliorer la sécurité alimentaire, nutritionnelle et les moyens de subsistance, a déclaré aujourd’hui l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) lors d’une réunion ministérielle Afrique-Asie qui s’est tenue à Hanoï, le 15 juillet 2025. 

Under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq marked a major step toward safeguarding its agricultural heritage and enhancing its food security with the laying of the foundation stone for the first-ever Gene/Seed Bank in the Region. 

The first cohort of Youth Action Leadership for Agrifood Awareness and Systems Transformation (YALAFAST) wrapped up this week in Rabat, marking a milestone moment for youth engagement in sustainable agrifood systems across the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) successfully concluded the LAC–NENA Family Farming Interregional Dialogue, held in Cairo on 7–8 July 2025. The two-day event brought together participants from the Near East and North Africa (NENA) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to exchange experiences, build partnerships, and promote policy solutions that strengthen family farming systems.

Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced the winners of the 2025 FAO Awards, recognizing organizations from Colombia, Egypt, and the Phili...

With the ongoing crisis having decimated the Gaza Strip’s agrifood sector, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently supported 200 farmers in Rafah and Khan Younis to optimize the use of land that is still available to grow critically needed staple crops.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with regional partners, today launched the first cohort of the Youth Action Leadership for Agrifood Awareness and Systems Transformation (YALA FAST) programme in Rabat, Morocco. This is under the FAO’s Regional Leadership Development Academy (RLA). Held from 30 June to 3 July 2025, this first-of-its-kind initiative aims to cultivate the young leaders in agrifood systems of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region.