“For some reason, everyone thinks that a beekeeper should be a man, but that’s not the case here,” states Ketevan Bluishvili, a beekeeper from Matani village of the Kakheti region in eastern Georgia. In some regions, women are even explicitly banned from

Although severe hunger has not been a major issue in Europe and Central Asia in the past 20 years, the region is in part facing an increase of moderate food insecurity - understood as irregular access to nutritious and sufficient food -, while also dealing with the widespread rapid growth of obesity, challenging its ability to achieve food security and improved nutrition, as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.

Animal health is an important issue in Central Asia, with livestock being a staple part of the economy. Tajikistan is not an exception either, where almost half of the population works in agriculture. Therefore, the ability to prevent, detect, and manage

In a joint statement released today, FAO, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO), committed to strengthening multi-sectoral coordination and efforts to combat health threats associated with interactions bet

Tajikistan is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in Central Asia. The effects of climate change are already visible in the form of increased temperatures, extreme weather events, and glacial melt. The agricultural sector is

Wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world and the key commodity for food security in many regions including Central Asia and Caucasus, as well as the basic staple in this region. Produced largely by smallholder farmers, wheat provides around 60 per

Post-harvest food loss is a leading cause of food insecurity for millions of people across the world. In 2019, 690 million suffered from hunger and the situation has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, everyone involved, including farmers, h

A roundtable meeting marked the official launch of the FAO–Uzbekistan Country Programming Framework (CPF), covering the period 2021–2025 and giving impetus and further guidance to their partnership. In line with national sustainability priorities, FAO sig

If there was ever a time that made us pay attention to our health, it has been this one of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year has also made that clear that not everything in the world of health is under our control. However, many of us are lucky enough to..

FAO collaborated with the University of Malaga, Spain, to analyse the resilience and vulnerability of the local traditional Mediterranean agricultural system of vineyards to climate change. The joint work with academic institutions helps to build scientif

Photographs from the Russian federation, Belarus, and Spain have won the International Day of Forests 2021 photo contest, which celebrated the ways in which trees contribute to people’s well-being across the world.

In Europe and Central Asia, FAO has remotely trained hundreds of animal health professionals in African swine fever (ASF) preparedness. African swine fever is a viral disease of pigs (and wild boar) with a lethality rate of up to 100 percent that leads to

Agriculture in the Republic of Moldova is set to become more resilient to climate change vulnerabilities thanks to a new USD 0.685 million project. The agriculture sector is a mainstay of the country’s economy with the majority of the population living i

Considering the many challenges small-scale cattle breeders face, FAO launched a project on artificial insemination to boost breeders’ livelihoods. The project aims to improve breeding and service quality in the livestock sector through a better organized

FAO Director-General spoke at the Third Meeting of the Central Asian Ministers of Agriculture

An FAO webinar provided an opportunity for governments, experts, civil society, and the industry to take stock on the response of fisheries and aquaculture to the COVID-19 crisis. The recording of the virtual event is now available online. The virtual e

In the Republic of Moldova, over 140 000 rural people will benefit from integrated natural resource management and the sustainability of land and water resources, thanks to a new USD 1.66 million project launched today. Financed by the Global Environmenta

On 8 March 2021, the United Nations and the world celebrate International Women’s Day, reflecting on progress made towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.

With the main aim to improve the animal health and production practices of smallholders and reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance, FAO published an animal health and production strategy for Europe and Central Asia. Available in English and Russian

FAO and the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) are co-leading a two-day simulation exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia on foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever, two major transboundary animal