New FAO report shines light on pitfalls and prospects for 1.3 billion young people. As key agents of change, the current generation of young people must increase food production, replace an aging workforce, and adapt to increasing extreme climate events.

The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 128.0 points in June 2025, up 0.7 points (0.5 percent) from May. While the price indices for cereals and sugar decreased, they were outweighed by increases in the indices for dairy products, meat and vegetable oils. 

On 3–4 July, the White Nights–2025 Baltic Grain Assembly was held in Saint Petersburg, bringing together the leaders of this key industrial agriculture market, heads of companies operating in the market of grain and grain processing products, logistics companies, and leading agricultural producers from various Russian regions.  

On 27 June, the hall of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Board served as the venue for the 3rd Agro-Industrial Innovation Forum organized by the Eurasian Tech Platform for Food and Processing Technology – Healthy Foods.

What are the challenges that rural youth in Europe and Central Asia face today? How to make rural areas more attractive for youth? What are the policy options to empower young people in the region? These and other crucial issues were raised during the Second Regional Rural Youth Forum organized by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (FAO REU). 

As part of a working trip to the Samara region, the delegation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation participated in the 10th International Congress “Climate, Soil Fertility, Agrotechnologies”, which took place in Samara from 9 to 11 June.

As part of the International Day of Potato observance on 30 May, which was celebrated under the theme of Shaping history, feeding the future this year, FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation together with the Russian Potato Research Centre held a scientific and practical conference where various aspects of potato production in the Russian Federation and the world were discussed.

In rural areas, young women and men can play a catalytic role for spurring economic growth and development and to ensure the future of agriculture and rural communities. However, specific economic, social and cultural challenges affect their aspirations, livelihoods, well-being, and integration into local economies and there are still gaps in understanding where more support is needed. But, in Europe and Central Asia like everywhere around the world, there is a decline in youth engagement in agriculture as a career.  To ensure future food security and livelihoods, encouraging young people to take up or stay in farming is key. 

In late May 2025, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, took part in several agrarian forums held in Russia.

On 27 May, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, spoke on the topic “Key trends in the animal protein production market” and presented relevant global trend assessments from the FAO perspective at the plenary session of the Agrarian Policy of Russia summit.

Rome – The benchmark of world food commodity prices dropped in May as marked declines in international quotations for maize and palm oil outweighed historically high prices for butter and bovine meat, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported on Friday.

In late May, at the request of FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation Oleg Kobiakov participated in the XI Nevsky International Ecological Congress. He shared with the delegates FAO’s vision for food security and sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the context of climate change.

On World Bee Day, which has been celebrated on 20 May since 2018, the TASS press centre held a press conference on the global problem of bee die-off and the measures to support beekeeping in Russia.

Rome – 21 May 2025 – Tea is one of the oldest beverages known to humans, dating back over five thousand years. With this in mind, the FAO headquarters in Rome held the Tea for Better Lives high-level celebration to mark International Tea Day – 2025.

Rome - Women’s vital roles in the tea industry and how to overcome the challenges they face was the theme of today' s celebration for the 2024 International Tea Day hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink, in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), released today.

Plants provide essential resources to life on Earth. Agrifood systems and food cultures in Europe and Central Asia are heavily dependent on plants – a dependence which relies on those plants being healthy and thriving. Protecting plant health under the holistic One Health approach can help countr...

The FAO Moscow Office continues to actively cooperate with the Eurasian Economic Commission, the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The productive collaboration between the two organizations dates back over a decade, with the first memorandum of understanding signed in 2013.

For the International Year of Cooperatives – 2025: Cooperatives are building a better world. The conference in Belgorod

Mr Kobiakov, Head of the FAO Russian Office, told RG about import substitution in industrial agriculture