Agricultural economics can help build resilience in times of conflict and recovery, FAO says at IAMO Forum 2026

Agricultural economics has a critical role to play in preventing conflict-related shocks from deepening, said Raimund Jehle, Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), during a panel discussion at the three-day IAMO Forum 2026 in Germany. Agricultural economics has the potential to support reconstruction after conflicts, Jehle said, and help countries build more resilient food and agriculture systems.

Jehle’s comments came during a 19 June moderated panel discussion on turning agricultural economics research into real-world results. During the discussion, experts from academia, international organizations and research institutions reflected on how agricultural economics research can be translated into practical policy outcomes, particularly in transition countries and crisis-affected contexts.

His involvement underscores the longstanding relationship between FAO and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO). FAO, a long-time IAMO partner and a co-organizer of the IAMO Forum 2026, is committed to supporting research and applying evidence-based solutions to the pressing challenges of agriculture in transition economies.

Building back better

Speaking from FAO’s experience in Ukraine since the start of the conflict, Jehle emphasized that food and agriculture are not just secondary outcomes of peace but foundational prerequisites for it. Agricultural economics should help countries “build back better” by embedding resilience into a country’s soft and hard infrastructure after the conflict has ended.

Drawing on FAO’s Emergency and Early Recovery Response Plan for Ukraine for 2026–2028 as a blueprint for recovery, Jehle outlined how agricultural economics can support the transition from emergency assistance to long-term recovery. As part of the plan, he pointed to FAO’s “dual-track” approach operationalizing the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, which aims at restoring livelihoods and moving rural households from subsistence farming back into market-oriented production.

Jehle also highlighted the importance of overcoming information asymmetry via digital institution-building as the plan’s second pillar. In Ukraine, FAO’s support to the State Agrarian Registry was presented as an example of bridging the gap between informal rural households and the formal economy.

Improving resilience and knowledge-sharing

Beyond recovery, Jehle stressed the importance of agricultural economics research as a key instrument in supporting governments in policy advice and dialogue. FAO offers a toolbox of international experiences and good practices, he said, to support countries in translating academic research into national and regional policies. Jehle also emphasized the importance of facilitated policy dialogue. Economists and technical specialists, he said, can bring analytical papers, evidence and recommendations into open discussion with governments and other partners.

Jehle stressed that as the complexity of challenges increases, so too does the need for policymakers to increase their readiness and capacity to utilize complex solutions and recommendations produced by research. It also is the responsibility of researchers, he added, to translate results to make them usable for policy measures.

Without the research work done by all the institutions in the region, Jehle concluded, the transformation would not have been possible. The need for research continues as much as ever, he said.