In Europe and Central Asia, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine put food security and healthy nutrition under enormous pressure. Food prices peaked, posing a challenge for decision makers to ensure that no one is left behind.

Acknowledging the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture and food production, ministers from the five Central Asian countries discuss today potential solutions for addressing regional and global food and climate change challenges. The meeting was fostered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Nestled in the vast plains of Georgia, in the shadows of the snow-covered Caucasus mountains, Malika Machalikashvili’s farm in Pankisi Gorge was once pretty traditional. She and her family shared the day-to-day work of caring for the livestock and poultry, gardening the vegetables and taking care of the hazelnut orchard, along with a few fruit trees and berry bushes. She used to bring the produce to the local market or sometimes even the one in the country’s capital, Tbilisi. Today, on top of the farm’s new additions, such as a greenhouse and modern irrigation, perhaps the most novel change is that she now sells her produce using a smartphone.  

The first set of systematic and in-depth National Food Systems Assessments in Central Asia show that consumer food preferences are changing. Agrifood systems are becoming industrialized and globalized. Increasing numbers of people live in cities and personal income levels are rising. Th...

Digital innovation and technology can transform agrifood systems into environmentally and economically sustainable systems that will promote better production and enhance more equitable rural livelihoods with increased opportunities for women, youth, and vulnerable groups.  The challenge is how to move ahead with a digitalization programme that is effective and efficient, and which harnesses the existing wealth of knowledge held by farmers, agribusiness entrepreneurs, researchers, and extension service agents.

The abandonment of agricultural land in North Macedonia is a pressing concern, with approximately 32 percent of arable agricultural land in the country having been abandoned – a much higher rate than in most other European countries.

A cheerful black dog dashes around the backyard farm of Liubov Yakovleva, greeting any and all visitors with a wag of not just his tail but his entire body. This four-legged friend, Karandash, helps keep Liubov from feeling lonely now that her husband has passed away and her children and grandchildren can only visit on holidays or vacations. It was, in fact, her grandchildren’s idea to give her this ball of energy so that their grandmother would not feel so alone in her village of Vyshneve, situated in the Dnipropetrovska oblast of southeastern Ukraine.

A group of Virginia juniper seedlings now decorates an area outside the United Nations House in Bishkek, near the intersection of Chui and Manas avenues. The trees were planted in memory of the late Adnan Quereshi, the former Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Kyrgyzstan.

 A three-year FAO project is providing recovery and reconstruction assistance to smallholder farmers in the Republic of Albania impacted by the 2019 earthquake. 

FAO raises concerns over disruptions to basic food production, seeks support to address immediate livelihood needs