Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) produces a huge biomass also under dry conditions and is therefore an ideal green manure for Mediterranean cropping systems. However, the incorporation of this green manure into the soil is challenging. This video presents three different machines – disk harrow, stone burier, and crimper roller...

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In the transition period, agricultural policy experienced turbulent development. Although the Stabilization and Association Agreement was signed in 2001, gradual consolidation of agricultural policy and adjustment toward the CAP of the EU has been noted...

Montenegro is a candidate country for EU membership. In October 2007, Montenegro signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) that entered into force in January 2008 as the Interim Agreement on Trade and Trade-related Issues. The SAA entered into force in May 2010. Also in 2010, the European Commission issued...

The German organic farmer Friedrich Wenz is one of the pioneers of reduced tillage. He has developed the so-called WEco-Dyn system. In this video, he explains how the WEco-Dyn system works and underlines the role of soil fertility as a prerequisite for successful reduced tillage systems. Farmers participating at this...

Since the beginning of the 2000s, Serbia has been going through profound economic and institutional shifts, with significant consequences for structural changes in the agricultural sector, its output and productivity, as well as agricultural policy. By the early 1980s Serbia had experienced significant growth in agricultural production, which stagnated in the...

Serbia is still a mainly rural country. 65% of its national territory is in farmland, a further 30% in forestry. Of its 7.2 million people, 58% live in rural areas, and about two thirds of these rely wholly or partly on agriculture or forestry for their livelihood. These industries produce...

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia gained its independence in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia. In 2005, the EU recognized it as a Candidate country. Formal negotiations for the country’s accession to the Union were recommended by the European Commission every year since 2009, but have been delayed...

Agriculture dominates the rural economy. Pastures and meadows occupy 90% of the farmland and the remaining 10% is mainly devoted to horticulture, vineyards and orchards. The structure of farming is dominated by small family farms, which provide all or most of their income for over 50,000 rural households, many of...

Taking part in the traveling workshops in Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro were a number of officials and NGO representatives from four other countries –  Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Turkey. Ministers or their representatives from these countries attended the Concluding Conference in Brussels on...

From a bottom-up perspective, the field visits in Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro showed that rural entrepreneurs, and some rural communities, can make good things happen, and that in some cases they do so without much help from government. However, it was also clear that farmers...

Taking into account the challenges in agriculture, and the responsibility that agricultural researchers and other stakeholders should take to improve the impact of agricultural innovations, the urgency to strengthen the cooperation and innovation partnership, the members of CACAARI and its partners encouraged the initiative of transforming the Association into the...

The role of different levels of governance is not fully clear. Action at village level is very limited. Mechanisms for connecting governments and stakeholders are emerging. Governments are committed to the further involvement of stakeholders. The groundwork for LEADER-type partnerships is being laid. Rural development networks are in place or...

This project, started in 2014 under the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme, was developed to improve services for rural women by enhancing the capacity of institutions and of agricultural extension and rural advisory services staff in Turkey and Azerbaijan. The project’s ultimate objective was to promote rural women’s socio-economic integration and enhance...

The impact of climate change on food production figured prominently in the words of Director-General José Graziano da Silva, as he addressed the opening of the UN FAO’s Regional Conference for Europe today. FAO’s emphasis on sustainable family farming was another key theme of Graziano da Silva’s statement, as he...

The FAO/UNEP joint programme is catalysing partnerships among United Nations agencies, other international agencies, governments, industry and civil society whose activities, together, can promote the necessary transition to sustainability. An Agri-food Task Force (ATF) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) has been established, comprised of representatives of Member States, United...

During the four-day fair (21- 25 May 2014, Izmir, Turkey), in cooperation with Garanti Bank, FAO Representation in Turkey launched small workshops for participant farmers with the purpose of introducing integrated crop and pest management (IPM) methods and the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) approach.

World Food day was celebrated in Turkey on 16 October with numerous events taking place across the country.  The official celebration took place in collaboration with the Turkish Food and Beverage Industry Employers Association (TUGIS) on 16 October in Istanbul with the high-level participation of Mehdi Eker, Minister of Food,...

This publication draws from reports and notes from a series of events in the International Year of Family Farming: Regional Dialogues on Family Farming were organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with the World Rural Forum, the International Cooperative Alliance and the World Farmers Organization to increase the understanding of the family farming context in each region,and...

Poverty and vulnerability combine in a vicious circle for many family farmers. To break that and turn it into a virtuous cycle, resilience must be built into farming and the systems in which farmers operate. There is an urgent need for a change in mindset regarding family farming, agriculture and...

While family farmers comprise 40% of the world's active working population, their livelihood is not given due recognition. Its socio-economic and legal recognition at both a national and international level is crucial to achieving world food security and halting the drastic decline in agriculture-related jobs. Such recognition constitutes the basis...