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).

In Europe and Central Asia, Members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) talked about improving the management of land and water resources at the Forty-third Session of the European Commission on Agriculture, held in Budapest from 27 to 28 September. The meeting marked a significant step towards Member Nations enacting their commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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.

Food standards help ensure that food produced, traded, and consumed is safe, and meets the quality parameters expected by the consumer.  Several countries in the Europe and Central Asia region use Codex standards and texts as the basis for strengthening their legal framework for food safety including development of food laws, regulations, and other measures.

The drought-resistant cereal millet is now undergoing a renaissance in its cultivation and consumption as an important crop in sustainable agrifood systems. Türkiye ranks high in the world as a drought-risk prone country. As climate change accelerates the frequency and severi...

The fourteenth International LANDNET Workshop took place from 5 to 7 September 2023 in Istanbul. Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) and the General Directorate of Agrarian Reform (GDAR) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye, the workshop brought together approximately 100 participants from around 30 countries, mostly from Europe and Central Asia.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a groundbreaking workshop that unveiled the findings of a pioneering survey on antimicrobials use (AMU) within the food and veterinary sector in Armenia. The survey, the first of its kind in Armenia, represents a significant step towards understanding and addressing the challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to the country's vital livestock sector.

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today urged more public and private investment in the massive task of transforming global agrifood systems to feed a growing population, while guarding against adverse environmental impacts.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, QU Dongyu, today renewed calls for the transformation of global agrifood systems at an International Conference on Food Security in Uzbekistan.

In the heart of the Fergana Valley, Shaodatkhon Oripova, a 62-year-old mother of three, combats the challenges of rural farming with modern technology. Embracing the power of the internet of things, she exemplifies the transformative wave that the Digital Villages Initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) brings to farming communities in Uzbekistan.

A new FAO emergency and resilience project funded by Luxembourg will provide cash and voucher assistance to 1 500 war-affected families engaged in livestock production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with Mohii Tojikiston, the Tajik national authority responsible for fisheries and aquaculture development, held a workshop on warm-water aquaculture 22–23 August in Dushanbe. The workshop provided a venue for discussion of the challenges and opportunities to development of the aquaculture sector in the country, and updated participants on current warm-aquaculture technologies and production systems.

Following the Kyrgyz tradition, Manzura Orolbaeva welcomes guests with homemade bread and a saucer of melted butter. The bread is made from grain grown on their farm and the butter from the livestock they keep.

Following the evidence-based analysis of gender in the regional response to the war in Ukraine published last year, the Regional Gender Task Force, the leading advocacy and information and coordination platform on gender in humanitarian action in Europe and Central Asia, has released a new gender brief on Ukrainian refugees’ livelihoods and access to work in neighbouring countries.

As the world population grows, so will demand for food. To try to feed the rising population, agricultural production has increased globally by almost 300 percent over the past 50 years.

The first traces of cotton growing in Azerbaijan date back thousands of years. During the Soviet era, it was referred to as "white gold," accounting for approximately 25 percent of agricultural revenue. However, the transition to a free market economy, coupled with the rapid growth of alternative industries in the 1990s, contributed to cotton losing its key role.