Representatives of three major organizations gathered in Kyiv recently to tackle issues of food safety and sanitary service in Ukraine. Hosted by Volodymyr Lapa, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the meeting was attended by Marta Everard, head of the World Health Organization...

The Soviet Union collapsed nearly 30 years ago, but its effects linger in the fragmented farm structures and market channels that plague food value chains throughout Europe and Central Asia. A series of FAO publications is dedicated to improving this issue by revealing a path forward to a system that is...

In the past 50 years, the population of the Central Asia region has tripled. With the need to feed a larger number of people amid increasingly limited water resources and highly vulnerable climatic conditions, the region faces serious food security challenges. A newly launched regional project from FAO and the Global...

The Value Chain Gap Analysis Report on Azerbaijan is meant to fill the “gap” in professional literature via providing a snapshot on how the government, the private sector and donor organizations work on creating an enabling environment to support value chain (VC) development. The report won’t answer any particular questions...

Co-organised by Interreg Nord Summer Whitefish and Snowchange Cooperative, the Festival of Northern Fishing Traditions has wrapped up successfully in Tornio, Finland. Over 150 small-scale and Indigenous fishermen around the world joined forces to discuss climate change, traditional knowledge, governance and direct exchanges on common challenges.

Le potentiel des pâturages d’estivage jurassiens est très bon. Il est possible de produire 20kg ou plus de lait par vache rien que sur la base d’herbage de qualité. 3 facteurs sont toutefois pour exprimer ce potentiel ; les accès doivent être facile et pratique, bien aménagés, l’approvisionnement en eau...

The Bosphorus, the narrow strait in Istanbul that connects the Black Sea basin to the rest of the world, hosted a special guest on 12 July. Affectionately named “Bilim” (Turkish for “Science”), the oceanographic research vessel (RV) from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey was just embarking on...

A Hungarian master attentively places his basketry utensils while Konobaeva Venera, a weaving master from Kyrgyzstan, packs up after a weaving workshop. Nearby, other masters from Uzbekistan and Hungary prepare for their time slots in the FAO stand at the Festival of Folk Arts, which runs through 20 August at...

Montenegro is looking to strengthen the links between agriculture, food and tourism, uniting its mesmerising coastline and spectacular mountains with its traditional foods – ranging from speciality cheeses and cured hams to bitter greens and crisp wines. As part of this agritourism push, at the end of June a Montenegrin delegation...

This video shows the recent progress of the activities of the ORM4Soil Ghana Team in the field. Farmers from around the study area of Kade were invited to inspect the results of the trials which they had contributed to design in the beginning of the study. The importance of organic...

Par un souci d’autonomie et de meilleure valorisation des récoltes, Alain Chabloz nous explique pourquoi il a décidé de produire lui-même des protéines pour ses vaches laitières. Les trois raisons principales sont : il fabriquait déjà une partie de ses concentrés à la ferme, mais surtout à base de céréales,...

Greenhouses are opening in rural schools in Armenia’s Ararat region today with the goal of increasing schoolchildren’s dietary diversity and improving their nutrition. All three greenhouses – in the public schools of Vedi, Verin Artashat and Surenavan – are equipped with modern heating, ventilation and drip irrigation systems. This activity is...

gronomic practices and management decisions can have a significant impact on the type and number of weeds on a farm. Understanding this relationship can help organic producers manage weeds through avoidance, and various cultural management practices. The most important steps of non-chemical weed management are prevention, diagnosis, and a number of...

Small-scale agroecological and organic farming systems require appropriate machinery and technologies, and a change of paradigm in the way they are conceived, produced, sold and patented. The mainstream agricultural model has led to machines that are getting increasingly bigger and more expensive and complicated, and thus inaccessible for many farmers...

Increasing agricultural productivity by over 20 percent just by using a negligible percent of arable land for creating forest areas sounds like a good deal. As practice shows, this is achievable with agroforestry – the practice of integrating woody vegetation with crops or animal systems. And the real bonus is...

For refugees from Syria who have been in Turkey for years already with no income, a job can mean the world. It means buying winter clothes for your children, getting them to school and even just being able to feed the family. It means no more endless days of wandering...

Turkey is moving closer to having its Bursa black figs and Bursa peaches protected and promoted through geographical indications (GI) – a move that could raise producers’ incomes and open up market opportunities.

The Norwegian experience shows that learning about sustainable small-scale fisheries development should not be a one-way traffic from the North to the South

Rail Baltica, the largest infrastructure project of the century in the Baltic region, plans to integrate the Baltic States with the European rail network. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019. Crossing through farmlands, the project challenges rural livelihoods and puts the competitive agriculture of the Baltics at risk. Organized by...

Fish is an excellent source of protein and essential micronutrients, with global average per capita fish consumption now topping 20 kilograms a year. In Central Asia and certain landlocked countries, though, average consumption is closer to 2 kilos, according to FAO data. Fisheries experts and national decision makers from Central Asia...