Interview with FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia: Viorel Gutu

Viorel, you are the Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia. Could you tell us a bit more about the region, your role and your responsibilities? 

Indeed, the FAO Subregional Office covers five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), and, also Türkiye and Azerbaijan. We are the first point of contact for our countries for technical expertise. We have a team of specialists and experts in different areas, and we provide technical assistance to the countries covered by our mandate. I am also the FAO representative in Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and temporarily in Kyrgyzstan, but also the de facto head of office in Turkmenistan, and, in this sense, our office is providing administrative, operational and programmatic support to the country offices, depending on necessities.

The region of Central Asia is a very interesting and diverse region. The level of economic development we see in these countries but also the level of agricultural development is astounding. The economic growth rates are very promising in this region.

At the same time, the variety of climatic conditions are also something which could be an asset but also a drawback for our work. Particularly with the strong climate change implications, which we are currently observing.

The countries of Central Asia are highly diverse. Some of them are mountainous, others are characterized by very dry deserts, some of the countries have easy access to water resources and others have a deficit of water. This defines our fieldwork in the different countries substantially. In some, for example, we focus on ensuring agriculture production, while in others we focus on adaptation of agriculture to climate change.

One of the differences from other FAO subregional offices, which I would like to mention, is the fact that we are not only a technical hub, but we also implement Partnership programs in countries in our subregion, which are financed by the countries of the region (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Türkiye).

What kind of challenges does the region face in your view and what role is FAO playing in addressing these through the biggest current projects?

In fact, the problems of our subregion are not very much different from other regions in the world, just that the general level of economic development of our countries is higher and FAO interventions have a bit different character. We have several big projects here, which have a big impact for our subregion. For example, FAO has a big project on the management of Persistent Organic Pesticides (POPS). Obsolete pesticides are a major problem here, and at a regional level. Another major issue is that of locusts. FAO plays a very important role related to locust management, locust control and collaborating with authorities as well as advising the government services on the organization of joint cross-border surveillance operations and many other actions that are needed to diminish the effects of locust invasions.

We also have a number of other projects, which have a regional character in the area of adaptation to climate change, as well as protection and integrated management of natural resources, etc.

Special focus is given to the projects implemented through the FAO - Türkiye Partnership Programs in Agriculture and Forestry. And in this sense, I would like to mention one of our flagship projects on Reduction of Food Loss and Waste implemented in the countries of the subregion. Our awareness campaign in Türkiye “Save Your Food” is focused on changing the behavior of people as well as industries in the country and was awarded two Guinness Records for its results.

Besides, we have a Regional Commission for the development of fisheries and aquaculture in Central Asia and Caucasus (CACFISH) and this is one of the sectors, which is gaining more and more attention in the whole subregion. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, through the many years of interventions and support by FAO, a completely new industry has emerged. The country is already looking for export opportunities of fisheries products. Very similar situation we have in Tajikistan. Moreover, we do try to share our experiences between the countries and the experts.

Could you tell us about the role of the European Union in the region? And what is the future of this partnership?

We have a number of projects currently running in partnership with the European Union. And there is one project which I would like to emphasize - the project under which we are focusing on employment opportunities in agriculture for Syrian refugees and host communities, and for which, in fact, I travelled to Brussels. We are very proud of its successes and the impact we bring to these people in need is simply incredible. We managed to change their lives for the better and we have so many inspiring stories of people who benefited as a result of this project. In this respect, I would like to mention the effort of our team which did not stop at all during the COVID-19 challenging period and continued working in the field with our beneficiaries. It makes us proud, fulfilled, and eager to continue our work.