On 16 October 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrates 80 years of commitment to ending hunger, transforming agrifood systems and promoting inclusive and sustainable rural development. In Kyrgyzstan, this milestone also serves as a tribute to decades of joint effort to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

A 2025 report by FAO reveals how countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are turning to bioeconomy strategies to transform their agrifood systems, enhance sustainability and revitalize rural economies. The publication, Promoting bioeconomy through agriculture practice in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, offers a comprehensive regional analysis, pinpointing key agricultural practices that align with bioeconomy principles. It delves into production trends and regional agricultural systems and examines how bioeconomy strategies can be integrated across diverse subregions from the Western Balkans to Central Asia.

Recognizing the important role of agrobiodiversity in rural diets, livelihoods and traditional knowledge, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is working with local communities to promote biodiversity and the sustainable use of local plants through training and awareness raising of its value for food, health and income.

Commercial aquaculture in Turkmenistan dates to the early 1970s, with the introduction of pond-based fish farming. However, production levels declined sharply after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Reviving freshwater aquaculture – particularly through smallholder farming approaches – has the potential to diversify farmers’ livelihoods, contribute to resilient agrifood systems and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Accelerating this process in Turkmenistan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), within the framework of a Technical Cooperation Programme project, concluded two workshops on 16 and 17 July on aquatic animal health management and aquaculture systems design and operation.

Agriculture remains a vital sector for employment in Central Asia. As the region faces significant challenges, including climate change, land degradation, and limited farmer access to innovative technologies, the adoption of advanced and adaptive farming practices becomes increasingly crucial. On 10 June, a three-day Regional Training on Climate Smart Agriculture began in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as part of its project Small Farmers as Agricultural Innovators for Sustainable Agrifood Ecosystems. 

There is an urgent need to adopt advanced technologies to tackle the challenges posed by climate shocks and water scarcity in agriculture and increasing pressure on smallholder farmers and rural economies. This was the message emphasized by Viorel Gutu, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) during a crucial session of the Bloomberg HT Sustainable Agriculture and Food Summit, held on 12 June in Istanbul, Türkiye. The session, ‘The present and future of agriculture,’ dissected the complex objective of building a sustainable future for the agricultural sector in Europe and Central Asia, with particular attention on water security, innovation and digital transformation, as well as smallholder farmers engagement.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has trained European experts in advanced remote sensing methodologies that will help generate consistent, comparable and high-quality data on the region’s forests. At a week-long training event hosted by the French National Institute for Geographic and Forest Information (IGN) in Saint-Mandé in May, 12 experts from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine learned to use Collect Earth Online (CEO) – an open-source software for satellite image interpretation – to collect data for assessing forest extent, trends and drivers of change from 2000 to 2024 based on a statistical sample. 

Water security is key for ensuring food security and countries can rely on the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to improve water management at the farm, national, and transboundary levels, as well as to facilitate to access innovative financing. This was the central message of Viorel Gutu, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia at the 2025 Hamburg Sustainability Conference. Gutu spoke at the panel discussion ‘Water, Food, Future: Navigating the global water crisis for food security’ on 2 June.

Central Asia, home to ecologically important river and wetland systems, extensive grasslands, and high mountain ranges that support unique biodiversity, faces escalating pressures. The region is particularly vulnerable due to its arid nature, increasing demands for natural resources, unsustainable development, and changing climate patterns, which contribute to an estimated USD 6 billion in annual economic losses related to land degradation alone. In response, five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – are supporting the development of the Central Asia Water-Land Nexus (CAWLN) programme.

While Bosnia and Herzegovina has successful examples of land degradation neutrality efforts, more aggressive action is needed to address the broader challenges.

The priorities should include harmonising land regulations across both entities and Brčko District, followed by the adoption of unified methodologies and the creation of reliable collection, storage and analysis capabilities. Only through an approach that ensures a uniform framework across all administrative units in Bosnia and Herzegovina can the issue of land protection be effectively addressed.