Four decades of communism and an overnight transition from socialism to the free market caused dramatic shifts in food consumer – producer relationships across Eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic, a history of cooperatives and local food production contrasts with today’s situation, in which the country is almost entirely dependent...

A model fish-production farm that uses new, water-saving production methods is being inaugurated today in Sayat-Nova, in Armenia’s Ararat province. The new installation was made possible by an FAO project and a public private-partnership. Groundwater levels in the Ararat Valley have been falling in recent years due to overutilization – by...

A geographical indication label on a food product conveys information about the food’s quality, reputation or unique characteristics linked to its origin. Since these labels help guide consumers in their food choices, and help farmers and producers of traditionally produced products market those products, a well-functioning geographical indication scheme benefits...

Most European consumers are familiar with migratory species like salmon and sturgeon, and with farmed trout and carp. The long-term viability of these and other inland fish species is the focus of an FAO regional commission whose meeting opens here today. The European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission, established in...

Part I of this year’s edition of the State of Food Insecurity in Europe and Central Asia is devoted to the theme of how the nature of food insecurity has evolved in the region over the past 23 years. The familiar four pillars of food security are used to demonstrate...

The third European Rural Parliament (18-21 October 2017 – Venhorst, The Netherlands) resulted in the Venhorst Declaration, calling on “citizens and policy-makers to support the vitality of rural areas and to ensure that general policies and programmes are rural proofed.” The Declaration – supported by over 250 representatives of rural communities...

Этот бюллетень предназначен для ежемесячного обновления политики торговли сельскохозяйственной продукцией в регионе и предоставления соответствующих новостей, касающихся торговли сельскохозяйственной продукцией.

Recently established organic regions aim to be model regions of sustainability. In the frame of this article we understand organic regions as territories that aim at the sustainable management of local resources, based on the principles of organic farming and agroecology. The contribution focuses especially on the role and configurations...

Continued armed conflict and related instability have inflicted enormous losses on the agricultural sector in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Yet, as the rest of the economy declines subsistence farming has taken on new importance. It could even become a driver of the local economy, according to a report released...

Le numérique, les technologies de l’information et de la communication constituent un déterminant de plus en plus important dans les stratégies agricoles et de développement rural. De manières inégales et différenciées ces dynamiques globales se diffusent dans l’ensemble des pays méditerranéens qui doivent faire face à la rareté des ressources naturelles,...

In Noord-Brabant, a region in South-West Netherlands, Govert van Dis and his wife Phily Brooijmans are running an organic arable farm of around 100 hectares. They run the farm together and actively follow innovations in agroecology. Crops are grown without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, therefore crop rotation forms the...

How to strengthen producers-consumers relationships ? This activity is one of the numerous exercises to be tried out during Urgenci's learning journeys. The latest of these journeys took place in Turkey 4-8 October, thanks to the support from the Civil Society Team of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Some tasks...

Wheat breeding, the traditional technique for improving yields or producing other desired characteristics, hasn’t gone out of fashion. It still has a role to play in ensuring food security, improving nutrition levels, and coping with a changing climate. Researchers from some 20 countries this week will travel in and around Krasnodar...

Europe and Central Asia is a vibrant region of nearly one billion people, living in more than 50 countries across 13 time zones, and speaking more than 300 languages. Chronic hunger has been all but eradicated from this part of the world, but pockets of food insecurity continue to exist,...

If there’s one thing wheat farmers agree on, it is the importance of sowing high-quality seeds. More than 50 farmers in Tajikistan last week attended an FAO field day where new wheat varieties were introduced – part of a project to improve access to high-quality seeds by producing them right...

FAO REU is continuing to support the NPPO of Belarus in addressing the lack of knowledge and skills on the use of modern laboratory equipment and inspection tools by provided trainings with involvement of high-level international experts. This is done by enhancing knowledge of specialized laboratory staff on modern laboratory...

Achieving healthy diets, adequate nutrition, good health and wellbeing for all in a sustainable manner while managing responsibly natural resources are at the core of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. Economic growth and rising incomes have nearly eliminated hunger and undernutrition in Europe and Central Asia. However, malnutrition...

Istanbul, like many other cities, is under heavy pressure from urban development projects. In the face of this threat, the DÜRTÜK collective supports small scale farmers in and around Istanbul by organising reliable demand for the produce from urban gardens, and by building a supportive community around them. This initiative...

Small-scale fisheries make an important contribution to nutrition, food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation of coastal areas. This paper deals with the integration of small-scale fisheries in coastal communities, their contribution to sustainable development, and some methodological approaches that can be used to carry out this kind of analysis....

Farmers in the conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine are learning about the legal and financial aspects of operating in cooperatives. In a series of training sessions during May and June, they will also acquire knowledge about efficient new technologies, business opportunities, and more. A new FAO project, financed by...