Fish and fish products are among the most widely traded food commodities in the world, with trade totaling around US$ 145 billion per year. Demand is especially strong in Europe. Market access and regional trade in fish products in Eastern Europe – especially with regard to the World Trade Organization...

Civil society organizations want to influence the future work of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Europe and Central Asia. With this in mind, a two-day consultation opens in Budapest today, with some 50 participants from several countries of the region. The Consultation will aim to concentrate positions among...

Montenegro is building on its rich cultural and food heritage and well-preserved natural beauty to become a destination for sustainable tourism. The country’s fast-growing tourism industry already accounts for nearly a quarter of Montenegro’s gross domestic product, with most of that tourism concentrated along the Adriatic coast. Keen to attract visitors...

FAO ’s three Regional Initiatives for Europe and Central Asia address interlinked issues to ensure the contribution of agriculture to achieve the universality of the Sustainable Development Goals. For this reason, technical teams in the region and at FAO headquarters work in close collaboration to support countries in achieving their...

La diversité des contributions fournies par les systèmes d’élevage s’appuyant sur des races locales, au côté de la production de biens alimentaires et non alimentaires, est rarement abordée de front, bien qu’elle soit essentielle pour comprendre les modalités de gestion de ces races. Ce travail de recherche fait le point...

As part of the publication “Strengthening the role of women in rural and agricultural areas: obstacles and opportunities” (September 2018) and the conference “Women4Mediterranean Conference 2018 – Women build inclusive societies” (Lisbon, Portugal, 10- 11 October 2018), during which the “Empowering Women in Rural and Agriculture Areas” (UM-CIHEAM) workshop will...

Agroecological symbiosis (AES) is a new, transformative model for adaptive and resilient localized food production and consumption. An AES is formed by farms, small and medium-scale food processors, and bioenergy producers working as one system, in close proximity to each other. The physical proximity is dictated by the ecological necessity...

In Europe and Central Asia, and particularly in countries not part of the European Union, food loss and waste have major implications on food nutrition and security through inefficiencies in the food value chains. FAO is now working with four southeastern European countries to develop strategies for food loss and...

For nearly as long as the civil war in Syria has been ongoing, 36-year-old Sena Hamad has been living in a refugee camp with her three daughters and husband on the outskirts of the city of Osmaniye in southern Turkey. Today, she is among the first group of 25 trainees to...

Last March in New York the sixty-second Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) took place with a priority focus on ‘Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls’. The Commission recognized in its conclusions «the crucial contributions of rural women to local and...

A programme that helps rural women in Kyrgyzstan gain access to new economic opportunities has received significant financial support from the Swedish government. The USD 5 million contribution from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) will help expand the Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural...

Today, a number actors in Montenegro’s fruit and vegetable value chains – including producers, retailers, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – came together at a workshop in Podgorica, Montenegro, to discuss the benefits of agricultural cooperatives. The workshop was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the...

Agriculture is one of the key sectors defining the sustainable development of Armenia. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia, which is responsible for implementing and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food and agriculture, identifies targets, aligns policy planning documents and, together with the Statistical...

Italian MEP Paolo De Castro and Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen sit down for an important exchange of views on the future of the Common Agriculture Policy and the EU budget.

With a signing ceremony and press conference in Yerevan, FAO launched a new project to make substantial improvements to dairy operations in the Republic of Armenia. Also, FAO introduced a unique platform for uniting donors working to improve the country’s agriculture sector. The overall goal of the dairy project in Armenia is...

Supporting the Kyrgyzstan government’s pursuit to unleash the country’s export potential, FAO is conducting a one-day workshop today in Bishkek to discuss with participants how to diversify agrifood exports and to enter the European and Chinese agricultural markets. The broad range of participants could have a large positive effect on Kyrgyz exports. The...

Many countries in the region have seen positive changes in agricultural development in recent years associated with countries’ reforms during the transition period after the Soviet Union collapse, as well as due to support from international organizations. This report overviews eighteen countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report...

Held in Konya, Turkey, between 9 and 12 October, in cooperation with Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, FAO’s Farmer Field School Curriculum Development Workshop hosted wide-ranging discussions on how best to further adopt the Farmer Field School method in the region. The workshop was organized within the context of...

Breeding livestock, producing crops and household goods, fetching water and firewood, housework, cooking for family, looking after children, caring for the elderly and sick members of the family – this is the short list of rural women’s obligations in Georgia. However, the contribution of women to agricultural production remains invisible and...

The emerging food sovereignty paradigm offers a viable alternative for food, farming and well−being in terraced landscapes and the territories they are embedded in. This paper first defines ‘food sovereignty’ and briefly describes the origins and history of this policy framework for food and agriculture. The second part of this...