According to a recent report published by the Climate Policy Initiative, a mere 4 percent of global climate finance reached agrifood systems between 2019 and 2020. This falls drastically short of what's needed and despite the crucial role of agrifood systems in climate change mitigation and adaptation. To achieve the ambitious goals outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement to effectively transform agrifood systems for climate action, experts estimate that mobilizing about USD 680 billion annually until 2030 is necessary. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working to help address the financing gap through the multi-stakeholder Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Partnership (FAST Partnership). 

As part of an ongoing pesticide management and disposal project from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Central Asia and Türkiye, two international events were held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. To discuss the latest trends and explore the ways digital technologies can ameliorate the management of pests and pesticides in Central Asia, a workshop on emerging green technologies for pest and pesticide management on 15 April was conducted.

In Ukraine, access to quality grain production estimates has worsened due to the ongoing war. In response, a three-day technical meeting at FAO on 11-13 March examined if remote-sensing technologies could help complement and strengthen its national data-gathering capacity. The meeting allowed to craft a concrete plan, set deadlines, and pinpoint winter cereals, maize, and sunflower seed as key focus for further joint work. 

African swine fever (ASF) is a very serious animal disease that may kill up to 100 percent of infected animals, both domestic pigs and wild boar of all breeds and ages and for which, currently, there is no commercially available vaccine or treatment. It poses significant economic, livelihood and biodiversity threats to the region's pig sector and wild populations. As part of its work to combat African swine fever in the region, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is building capacity to improve ASF management by teaching outbreak investigation and basic epidemiology to participants from Western Balkans in a four-day workshop in Sarajevo from 21 to 24 May.

Hosted by the Republic of Moldova, the Thirty-fourth Session of the Regional Conference for Europe, held 14–17 May, brought together over 300 participants – representing all 53 Member Countries from the region and the European Union as a Member Organization, as well as United Nations agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental sectors, research and academia, the private sector and civil society. The final report of the conference, adopted on 17 May, guides FAO and all relevant actors in advancing the transformation of the region’s food systems towards a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future. Here are some of the highlights.

Through its Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative in Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) works to recognize and sustain traditional agricultural systems with rural cultures and economies and to promote and  integrate them into broader food systems value chains. Science and innovation play important roles in underpinning the strength and viability of GIAHS. 

The 34th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe (ERC) ended today following four days of exchanges on the steps needed to transform agrifood systems in Europe and Central Asia.

Director-General says four-day Conference helped identify the priorities needed for FAO "to do more and better."

The Thirty-fourth Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Conference for Europe (ERC), scheduled from 14 to 17 May in Rome, is in full swing. This conference, which is the main FAO decision-making body for its Europe and Central Asia region, features ministerial round-table discussions and side events on current challenges and opportunities for the food and agriculture realm of the region. Hosted at FAO’s headquarters and webcast live online, the ERC side events welcome speakers from governments, the private and civil sectors, and the academic community to look at such key issues as sustainable locust management, foresight drivers and triggers, climate action, water resource management, true cost accounting, and the challenges of transforming agrifood systems in landlocked developing countries to be more inclusive, resilient and sustainable – all from a regional perspective.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today urged FAO Members in Europe and Central Asia to discuss strategies and policy options to transform agrifood systems so that they can feed into a regional foresight exercise for the region. Speaking at a side event of the 34th Session of the Regional Conference for Europe, QU stressed the importance of strategic foresight exercises as an essential approach to better understand the possibilities of different future scenarios.

Today, during the second day of the Thirty-fourth Session of the Regional Conference for Europe (ERC), ministers of agriculture from the Europe and Central Asia region explored the role of innovation and digitalization in the sustainable use of natural resources and reviewed the response of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to the multiple crises in Europe and Central Asia.