Legumes are the main source of protein for more than one billion people in South Asia. ICARDA and its partners have developed new legume varieties with high yields, enhanced nutritional value, as well as other traits such as drought tolerance and disease resistance.

The Western Balkan countries are all in a process of accession to the European Union. Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro have the status of candidate countries. Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99 are potential candidate countries, with the prospect of joining the EU when they meet the...

L’agropastoralisme est un système agraire combinant productions animales extensive et cultures végétales sur deux espaces bien distincts : d’une part des espaces dit naturels dédiés à l’élevage de parcours, d’autre part des espaces cultivés, organisés, dédiés aux productions végétales et fortement marqué par l’activité humaine. Cette répartition initiale des productions...

This book describes how farmers and rural people in the southern Caucasus maintain biodiversity and apply the ecosystem approach in their daily lives and agricultural practices. These practices contribute to their food security and livelihoods while also maintaining local genetic resources.This book does not claim to offer a definitive prescription...

Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, comptetitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to...

The agricultural situation has gradually improved in most Western Balkan countries, but many steps on the way to European Union (EU) accession remain. This is the core message of the current report "Agriculture in the Western Balkan countries", which focuses on the EU candidate countries Croatia and Former Yugoslav Republic...

Le pastoralisme est une des pratiques les plus anciennes de l’activité humaine. Il produit des paysages spécifiques, à la fois par la marque qu'il imprime au territoire et par les traditions culturelles matérielles et immatérielles qui leur sont associées. Exposé à des mutations profondes dans certaines régions, en voie de...

The Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) region consists of five countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and three in the South Caucasus (Armenia Azerbaijan and Georgia). The eight countries of the region attained independence after the breakdown of the former Soviet Union in 1991, and...

During the last decades, droughts have become more frequent in the Mediterranean, West Asia and North African countries, and have had negative socio-economic impacts which are frequently linked to a high exploitation of available water resources. The Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change states that extreme...

Every single day, scientific evidence of climate change mounts all around the world and in Turkey. In the 20th century, the average temperature increased by 0.6°C all around the world and by 0.95°C in Europe. According to the latest developments, the consequences in the Mediterranean Basin would be more severe...

In this paper a simplified methodology for the estimation of drought impacts on crop yield in rainfed agriculture is proposed. The methodology is based on empirical models for the estimation of actual to potential evapotranspiration ratio (ET/PET). This ratio is related to the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI), an expression of...

Global food production has increased by 20% in the past decade – but food insecurity and poverty remain widespread , while the natural resource base continues to decline. International research centers, which have helped drive previous improvements, must continue to deliver new technologies to support sustainable growth in agriculture; and...

Originally perceived as an occasional natural hazard, drought is now a phenomena, for which one can be prepared, despite the difficulties in determining its beginning and end. It is therefore crucial to understand the individual and social behaviour, in order to adopt effective measures and policies to mitigate the negative...

Central Asia consists of five ‘transition’ economies (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and covers 399.4 million hectares (Mha), about two-thirds of which are drylands. Developing sustainable land management options in this region must take into account the biophysical constraints (low rainfall, extreme rainfall variability, and heat and cold stresses),...

The present FAO Crop and Grassland Service working paper is a joint report on the experiences of two FAO Technical Cooperation Projects in Uzbekistan: ►FAO/TCP/UZB/2903-3102/A Sustainable agriculture practices in the droughtaffected region of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, operating from February 2004 to September 2007. The project consisted of two phases: TCP/UZB/2903 (2004/2005) and...

Structural changes in agriculture have been going on in many countries all over the world during the last two decades. Developments were forced by radical reforms of countries concerned resulting in to establishing new farm structure. Large scale farm systems were broken up and tens of millions of small farms...

Depuis très longtemps, la Méditerranée, de la Syrie à l’Espagne, a su pourvoir aux besoins de ses populations. Toutefois des évolutions rapides au niveau démographique et des modes de vie, ainsi que le changement climatique, engendrent des situations de tensions dans la région sur les questions de l’eau et des...

Organic Monitor was commissioned by Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations to assess the European and North American market for organic ingredients: organic cocoa, coffee and vanilla. The purpose of the study is to investigate the market potential for Pacific Island Country (PIC) growers. The focus is...

Prince Mahidol Award Conference on Mainstreaming Health into Public Policies Bangkok, Thailand, 28-30 January 2009 FAO/WHO Session on Agricultural Policies, Climate Change and the Impact on Human Wellbeing and Nutrition The Italian experience has shown that the introduction of organic food in schools meals generates a wide range of benefits for the...

SEEAG's Mission is to educate children about the farm sources of their food from  field-to-table while connecting them to the farmland in their own backyard.