All across Europe and Central Asia, there is a growing desire among consumers to buy local healthy food that is produced in a way that is less harmful to the environment and biodiversity. Permaculture, foraging spontaneous plants and community seeds production are interrelated approaches implemented in the region to glean and grow food in a sustainable manner. To broaden knowledge on these traditional and innovative approaches and their benefits, FAO organized a regional workshop on permaculture and community seed development in collaboration with Gradina Moldovei, a Moldovan association specialized in the topic.

A new project by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with Republic of Tajikistan’s state institution Agricultural Entrepreneurship Development Project Management Unit,  will provide technical assistance to the country to strengthen resilience of the agriculture sector.

World Food Day is commemorated every year on 16 October, the date FAO was founded in 1945. The theme this year was “Leave NO ONE Behind.” The day highlighted that, although we have made progress towards building a better world, we are off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.

Eliminating hunger and the transformation of agrifood systems into sustainable systems are ambitious goals for which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working towards every day. Yet, the Organization is lucky to rely on its partners’ resources, too, including academia, research institutions, and universities.

The fifteenth of October is the International Day of Rural Women. This is a day to recognize that women’s empowerment and gender equality can lead to better lives, better production, and a better environment for all.

Today's global crises of the ongoing pandemic, conflicts, climate change, inflation and international tensions all have a serious impact on food security. More than 800 million people suffer from hunger worldwide, and the number is rising sharply, so there is a greater need than ever for governments, private sector, and the civil society to take action to alleviate hunger collaborate, as well as for raising the awareness of the public. 

In the last decade, rural communities in Europe and Central Asia have been increasingly exposed to multiple risks, increasing their vulnerability to poverty and other shocks. Recognizing the importance of social protection systems in addressing these challenges, FAO released a regional report that analyzes the specific risks and vulnerabilities faced by rural populations.

On 5–6 October the regional conference on food loss and waste in Europe and Central Asia “Enabling the change” took place to explore and discuss strategies, tools, and practical interventions to reduce food loss and waste and to identify the essential elements of environments conducive to the transition to sustainable food value chains. 

In 1989, a disease outbreak left cocoa plants and production in Brazil’s eastern state, Bahia, fully devastated. The land became abandoned until a group of rural farmers, who used to work on those fields, saw the untapped potential and rehabilitated it. 

Cotton production plays an important role in the economies of the Republic of Türkiye and many Central Asian countries, including Turkmenistan. Celebrated on World Cotton Day (7 October), cotton provides the basic input for the textile industry, contributing to export revenues of those countries and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and workers engaged in the cotton value chain.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a new project in the Republic of Tajikistan to improve regulations for the protection and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge on the topic. The three-year undertaking, “Facilitating agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable use to promote food and nutritional resilience in Tajikistan,” is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

In the Republic of Moldova, far more women living in rural areas are at risk of poverty compared with men and with urban populations. The recently released National Gender Profile on Agricultural and Rural Livelihoods in the Republic of Moldova presents a snapshot of gender inequalities that affect various aspects of agricultural production and rural livelihoods in the country.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new USD 40 million (Canadian Dollar 52 million) Canada-funded project to further address grain storage shortages in Ukraine.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade and global food supply chains, it also created new options and preferences among consumers for local food products. This underscores the importance of a well-functioning food system that can supply enough good quality, affordable food for all, at all times.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today launched in the Europe and Central Asia region the Global Action on Green Development of Special Agricultural Products: One Country One Priority Product. This global initiative aims to make agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.

New $17 million Japan-funded project aims to address grain storage deficit and increase export of critical agricultural goods to international markets.

Following an intense week with a symposium in which 105 scientists participated and a session with 15 Member countries, the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC)adopted for the first time resolutions and recommendations on inland fisheries and aquaculture.

Setting the basis for developing an integrated whole-of-government National Food Security Strategy in North Macedonia will be the focus of a new FAO project. The project was launched today through an event in Skopje, organized by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy in partnership with the Rural Development Network of North Macedonia.

In the countries of Europe and Central Asia, about half of the population lives in rural territories, with those people who produce the food we eat among them. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the Europe and Central Asia region, requires an increased attention to rural communities.

The war caught Larysa Zueva while she was working a shift at a psychiatric hospital in Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. She spent more than a month with her grandson in the hospital's shelter with about 200 other people. Despite the attacks, her work at the hospital continued. When the gas lines were cut, they resorted to cooking on an open fire, still managing to feed and care for their patients.