News

Agriculture across Europe and Central Asia is undergoing a profound transformation. Climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss and mounting pressure on water and soil resources are reshaping the region’s food systems.

In the early mornings of the Andean highlands, farmers watch the mountains the way their grandparents once did—reading clouds, wind, and the sheen of distant glaciers. But the glaciers are shrinking now, especially in countries like Peru and Bolivia, where meltwater has long sustained irrigation canals carved into stone. In Central America’s Dry Corridor, in Honduras and Guatemala, rains arrive late or not at all. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the weather no longer behaves as memory insists it should.

Europe and Central Asia’s focus on green agriculture inspires worldwide action. 

Green agriculture is central to Africa’s food security and climate resilience, and it succeeds when women and youth are empowered as drivers of inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems.

The FAO Asia and the Pacific region is reshaping agrifood systems: Productivity must rise while environmental footprints fall. From the MIDORI strategy in Japan to the organic transition in Bhutan, a common direction is visible: Reduce inputs, safeguard biodiversity and close nutrient loops. Through the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan and 208 National Green Pilot Zones, China is demonstrating replicable models, with 90 percent soil testing adoption, 88 percent straw utilization and 1.07 million ha of efficient irrigation as of 2024.

The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region stands at a defining moment in its transition towards greener and more resilient agrifood systems. Environmental pressures such as accelerating land degradation, biodiversity loss and chronic water scarcity are intensifying under the weight of climate change. Agriculture remains the region’s largest consumer of land and water resources, making its transformation central not only to food security but also to economic stability and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout the NENA region, greening agriculture is shaping the future of food, water and livelihoods.

Representatives from across Europe and Central Asia gathered in Yerevan on 3–4 December 2025 for the Third Regional Dialogue on Biodiversity Mainstreaming Across Agricultural Sectors, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 

This open access online course was developed by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU), in collaboration with the FAO Virtual Learning Centers. It provides an introduction to Green Agriculture from theory to implementation.

In his Opinion Editorial, Morten Hartvigsen, Land Tenure Officer at FAO’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, explores a pressing but often overlooked challenge: fragmented farmland and inefficient farm structures that are holding back rural development and sustainable agriculture.  

To identify and discuss obstacles and opportunities of rural youth in Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened the second Regional Rural Youth Forum in Budapest, Hungary. Starting today, youth representatives, decision makers, young farmers, civil society, and others) from 22 countries of the region will hear examples of successful support to rural youth, as well as look at the issues they are facing and solutions.