World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October, the date FAO was founded in 1945. This year’s theme, “Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind,” highlighted water's importance to food production, food security, healthy environments, and human health and the need to protect global water resources.

It is estimated that around half the obsolete pesticides in the world can be found in the former Soviet Union, with a large portion currently sitting in Central Asia. During Soviet times, the region was an important centre for agriculture, particularly cotton production, with mandatory pesticide application and oversupply.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) works to support countries to move to sustainable agriculture, adapt to climate change and to mitigate climate change by reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions. As part of this effort, FAO organized a two-day workshop on advancing climate action in agriculture in Europe and Central Asia, from 27 to 28 September in Istanbul, Türkiye.  

Major food security challenges caused by unsustainable water management were presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Hungarian Food Bank Association and the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture today, World Food Day, in Budapest. Olympic aquatic athletes also joined the water-themed event, which featured water-friendly dishes of the future and the World Food Day convoy – a line of 21 trucks carrying 50 tonnes of food donations for needy families.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Economy of the Republic of North Macedonia, in partnership with the 'Hans Em' Faculty of Forest Sciences, Landscape Architecture, and Environmental Engineering, convened an event in Skopje, focusing on good practices and experiences in forest restoration.

African swine fever, an infectious viral and highly lethal disease that kills pigs and wild boar, first appeared in the Balkans and the Republic of Moldova nearly a decade ago. While not a threat to human health, the virus is a major hazard to pig farms, livelihoods, local economies, and food security. 

The multitude of vital benefits that nature provides to society are called ‘ecosystem services’. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) applauds the Czech movie The values of nature that helps us understand the value of these ecosystem services, and has just awarded it the Osiris Prize at the thirty-ninth international Agrofilm festival in Slovakia (2 – 7 October 2023).

Hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the first-ever Science and Innovation Week for Europe and Central Asia   facilitated robust discussions and knowledge exchange on the integration of science, research, and innovation with policymaking to drive the transformation of agrifood systems in Europe and Central Asia toward sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience.

In historic Samarkand, Uzbekistan, leading thinkers from around the globe convened for an international conference on food security to discuss a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient future for the world's agrifood systems. The event was organized by the Government of Uzbekistan, with technical support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Food loss and waste (FLW) is an intricate, multidimensional socioeconomic issue that results from malfunctioning agrifood systems. Given the complex nature of the latter, comprising  institutions, processes, and – importantly - people's interactions, FLW prevention and reduction should consider the complex interrelations between the various actors involved and their environments. In other words, it is important to understand human behaviour and the ways to influence it so that more sustainable choices are made by all actors all along the food chain.