The aim of this seminar is to bring together experts and researchers from the agriculture and food sectors to debate over methodological and empirical issues regarding relationships among Euro-Mediterranean countries on topics such as food policy, trade and marketing. This seminar will also focus on the topics of food security and...

Water scarcity is a pressing problem for the future of agriculture and food, but solutions are available for using water more efficiently. Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, shared some of those solutions with participants at the Budapest Water Summit 

The 16th Agricultural Policy Forum (APF), held in Tirana, Albania on 12 – 13 October 2016, brought together around 110 diverse stakeholders from 19 different countries/territories representing relevant international and regional institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations and academic establishments. The main theme of the APF this year was Evidence – Based...

During the World Rural Forum representative Laura Lorenzo’s visit to Hungary, the National Committee on Family Farming showed great interest in providing continuity for the International Year of Family Farming through various action strategies such as the Directives on Family Farming. Using this approach, the National Committee is already working...

Agriculture is an important part of the economy in Central Asia and contributes significantly to the food security of the majority of population. Sustainable development of agriculture, increase of production and improvement of population welfare largely depend on soil condition and its fertility. Over the past decade, the agricultural lands,...

Productivity growth in the Turkish agricultural sector is supported today by better technologies, crop varieties and animal breeds. Yet improvements have slowed since the late 2000s, and the productivity gap between agriculture and the rest of the economy remains large. To overcome these challenges, Turkey will need to reduce the...

More than 50 percent of the world's population currently lives in urban areas and this is expected to rise to 70 percent by 2050, particularly in developing countries. Increasing effects of climate change, including storms, floods and other extreme weather events, pose an added threat to how people in cities, especially...

For the indigenous peoples of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the ‘fi sh province’ of the Russian Federation, fi ghting for their rights to access fi shing resources is crucial

Farmers, experts, policy makers, researchers, extension specialists, and NGO representatives learned techniques for minimizing the use of pesticides at a recent FAO workshop in Dushanbe. Some 70 participants – hailing from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan attended the three-day event (15-17 August) on Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Over the last few months I’ve been out and about with my camera profiling some of the small independent farmers and foodmakers who supply Farmdrop – a local food business on a mission to fix the food chain. In the first of the series I meet chicken farmers Nick Ball...

As the Coordinator of the H2020 project “Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas” (SIMRA), I am very pleased to share the news that the 1st Workshop of the H2020  SIMRA Social Innovation Think Tank (SITT) that took place on October 26th – 28th 2016 in Bratislava and was endorsed by...

Farms and communities in Turkey’s Anatolian steppe will soon have help in coping with the damaging impacts of climate change. A two-year, $3 million FAO project – co-financed by the European Union and Turkey – aims to restore healthy ecosystems, promote environmentally friendly agricultural practices, and raise levels of knowledge...

As farmers increasingly plant modern varieties of wheat, traditional wheat landraces are in decline. Yet the genetic diversity found in these hardy traditional varieties could be crucial for the future of wheat production. A new series of publications from FAO introduces wheat landraces in the Central Asia sub region, starting with...

Scarcity of both land and water – and the degradation of those natural resources – are a big issue for Armenia. Conservation agriculture offers solutions, and FAO and the European Union are responding to this priority need. FAO convened national and international experts earlier this month to discuss the country’s development...

Two key partnership programmes between FAO and the Government of Turkey – focused broadly on food security, rural poverty and forestry – were ratified recently by the Turkish Parliament and published last week in the Official Gazette in Ankara.  With a total US$ 20 million financial contribution from Turkey, the agreements will help...

Fruit and vegetables are a major source of income for rural households in mountainous Tajikistan – and essential for healthy diets. Fresh produce such as sweet cherries, onions and table grapes make up an important share of the country’s agricultural exports. The potential to supply domestic retail and export markets remains...

governmental program for supporting cooperatives in beekeeping

ALTER is implemented by a consortium of rural networks in Western Balkan countries and Turkey, encouraged and supported by Prepare – Partnership for Rural Europe. The goal of ALTER is to stimulate an enabling legal and financial environment for civil society, as well as to empower civil society to be effective...

Some 700 vulnerable internally displaced persons in Georgia could soon be earning income by growing fruit, raising rabbits, breeding cattle, beekeeping, horticulture and other agricultural activities. Financed by the European Union, the income diversification initiative is implemented by FAO and the Livelihoods Agency of Georgia’s Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from...

The workshop “Support to family farming and small scale agriculture to achieve rural poverty reduction. Opportunities and priorities to strengthen FAO Regional Initiatives” is aimed at analysing the main trends in family farming and debating the strategy and achievements of the three FAO Regional Initiatives related to family farming and...