FAO provides assistance to Albanian farmers through agricultural grants that aim to add value to local agricultural production. The project, financed by the United Nations Joint Fund and the Albanian government, supports smallholders through facilitating good practices on rural income diversification, innovative short food value chains, and farmers' cooperation, as...

The overall objective of this report is to identify and conduct analysis of short food supply chains (SFSCs) among small farmers in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The report’s analyses are based on the primary data collected from 397 smallholder farmers through semi-structured interviews in all Western Balkan countries/territories (Albania,...

Social protection has a critical role to play in reducing poverty, improving food and nutrition security, and stimulating inclusive economic growth in rural areas. However, social protection alone cannot address all the risks and challenges faced by vulnerable rural populations. Integrated interventions have shown greater impacts than stand-alone social protection...

In Europe and Central Asia, FAO has remotely trained hundreds of animal health professionals in African swine fever (ASF) preparedness. African swine fever is a viral disease of pigs (and wild boar) with a lethality rate of up to 100 percent that leads to huge economic losses, trade disruptions, and...

FAO is leading a two-day simulation exercise on African swine fever starting today in Podgorica, Montenegro. The exercise is part of a wider FAO effort helping Balkan countries bolster their capacities for responding to a possible outbreak of African swine fever, a dangerous transboundary animal disease without a cure or...

In April 2021, OREKA MENDIAN published a booklet of good practices showcasing 31 inspiring examples for the sustainable management of mountain grasslands gathered across 18 European countries. These good practices will inspire farmers, breeders and other local actors to increase the biodiversity of mountain grasslands, tackled climate change impacts and better market their products,...

Agriculture in the Republic of Moldova is set to become more resilient to climate change vulnerabilities thanks to a new USD 0.685 million project. The agriculture sector is a mainstay of the country’s economy with the majority of the population living in rural areas and depending on agriculture for food and...

Over 240 videos from the Organic Farm Knowledge Platform are now available on its own YouTube channel organised into six playlists, along with a short introduction video.

Considering the many challenges small-scale cattle breeders face, FAO launched a project on artificial insemination to boost breeders’ livelihoods. The project aims to improve breeding and service quality in the livestock sector through a better organized and high-quality system for delivering artificial insemination and animal production services to farms. Improved and...

The virtual event, hosted by the Government of Kyrgyz Republic, focused on innovations in agri-food systems. With focus on science, technology and innovation, Central Asian countries can contribute to agri-food systems transformation and serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

This report seeks to provide the countries in the Europe and Central Asia region with an overview and real examples of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) applied to agriculture. This is FAO’s first attempt to present NBS applied to agriculture especially pointed at the countries of this region, prompting the scaling-up of...

This Climate Finance toolkit was prepared by the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, as part of the efforts both organizations systematically conduct to support...

Soils are the foundation of our terrestrial ecosystems and soil health is crucial to global food production. In this short video interview with Marc-André Selosse, botanist and mycologist, professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, let's discover this complex underground ecosystem on which we depend to feed...

Smallholder farmers need to become more prepared for and resilient to weather extremes and climate shocks, and further support should be granted to them, concluded the virtual meeting of Agricultural Ministers of five Central Asian countries, convened by FAO. The impact of climate change is seen everywhere, yet often, the most...

Halfway through the 2020 round of the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture covering the period of 2016–2025, FAO is providing further practical input for the countries of Europe and Central Asia to join this cycle. The five-day FAO webinar presents Volume 2 of the World Programme of the Census...

Mainstreaming biodiversity of all animal, plant, and fungi species in the agricultural sector is an attempt to ensure that important aspects of biodiversity protection are taken into account when selecting policies or farming methods. A two-day FAO virtual event, starting today, strives for improvement across all agricultural sectors in Europe...

A year before the country was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, Tahmina Isayeva from Zaqatala district in northwest Azerbaijan started a small business of drying fruits in her kitchen. “In the beginning it was my hobby to preserve fruits by drying them. We arranged fruits on the drying tray, spacing them...

Finalists in seven categories of the ‘Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and Central Asia’ award of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and FAO have been announced. The initiative, launched in November 2020,aims to identify, showcase, and celebrate good practices and innovative solutions proven successful in advancing the digital transformation of...

Youth around the world are leaving agriculture, but many would stay on the farm if they had appropriate technologies and better social services, as Professor Alejandro Bonifacio explained to me recently.

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), organised a national dialogue to prepare for the UN Food Systems Summit, a major global event which is planned for September. In over 100 countries around the world, national dialogues and...