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FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Facilitating inclusive rural transformation

FAO Regional Priority Programme

As a result of land reforms in the 1990s, Europe and Central Asia is largely a region of smallholders. In some countries, large commercial farms exist side-by-side with many economically unprofitable smallholders. Yet small farms can achieve high levels of productivity and income – through improved organization, intensified and sustainable production, and integration into agrifood chains. With appropriate support, family farms can be a model for achieving sustainable growth, ensuring food security and mitigating rural poverty.
From desks to hives
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Nurcan Tekneci had a successful corporate career and used to live a hectic city life. After the pandemic, she decided to move to the countryside and...

Empowering rural women in Bosnia and Herzegovina: breaking barriers and shaping the future
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes the challenges rural women face and works to break down the structural...

FAO and Norway launch a USD 4 million project to support rural communities in frontline areas of Ukraine
13/01/2026

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Norway have launched a new project to support rural communities...

In Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, smallholders are farming more sustainably
12/01/2026

A multi-country initiative supporting smallholder farmers in adopting sustainable, productive and climate resilient practices has successfully concluded....

Rural women in Georgia: Insights from the Country Gender Assessment
09/01/2026

Sopo, a 31-year-old from Tsalka, is taking her first steps towards building a small cheese business with her mother.
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Ukraine’s agriculture: FAO sets out a three-year emergency and early recovery plan
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By signing a new agreement, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Uzbekistan have pledged to provide more targeted and...

In Montenegro, women sustain agriculture but hold little land
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From rocky soil to thriving harvest
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Islomjon Yusufov’s journey saw him progress from struggling with a rocky and waterless plot of land to running a thriving, innovative family farm. “Yusuf...

FAO and Qatar Fund for Development launch USD 10 million programme to support mine-affected rural communities in Ukraine
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The faces of agrifood systems transformation in Europe and Central Asia
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In a quiet field outside Madrid, a sheep owner looks up at a drone humming above grazing sheep, scanning for signs of stress, injury or predators....

Albania learns to adopt the EU LEADER approach, with FAO help
24/11/2025

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Albania Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are working closely...

Georgia introduces land consolidation to improve farm structures, boost productivity
21/11/2025

Rural women in Kosovo strengthen livelihoods through livestock care trainings
19/11/2025

With stronger knowledge in livestock care and feeding, women from rural areas of Kosovo1 are improving their...

From aid to growth: strategic shift secures long-term future for Moldovan agriculture
14/11/2025

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a project to strengthen competitiveness and climate resilience among...

Turkmen experts visit Lithuania to learn about digitalization in the land administration and management sectors
12/11/2025

A delegation of government officials from Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Agriculture visited Lithuania from 27 to 30 October to learn from the country’s...

The Amalfi Lemon and its layered resilient landscape
30/10/2025

The Amalfi lemon grows in a landscape as distinctive as its flavour. For nearly a thousand years, farmers have worked in harmony with nature to carve...

New FAO gender profile highlights challenges and opportunities for rural women in Tajikistan
27/10/2025

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released the National gender profile of agriculture and rural livelihoods: Republic...

Women farmers grow a resilient future in Kosovo
20/10/2025

This year’s World Food Day theme, “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”, calls for global cooperation to ensure a peaceful, sustainable,...

Kyrgyz documentary on woman farmer wins Agrofilm award
10/10/2025

The farmer starts a fire, takes out the horse and attempts to fix the tractor. So far, this looks like an average morning routine in the far-flung...

This Regional Priority Programme uses a complex, multidisciplinary and area-based development approach, tailored to the Europe and Central Asia region. It takes into consideration the region’s heterogeneity and the special challenges it faces.

The overall goal is to address the key problems of rural people by empowering smallholders and family farms to improve their livelihoods. Elimination of rural poverty, improving the resilience of rural populations (with a focus on smallholders) and inclusive growth for rural economies based on sustainable use of natural resources are the basic principles of the Priority Programme.

The work focuses equally on technical issues (animal health, production, phytosanitary and so forth) and social, economic and environmental aspects. Inclusiveness – with respect to gender and vulnerable groups, for example – is also a key principle.

The Priority Programme tackles two main areas: (1) policy, institutions and governance, and (2) farms and communities. Priority actions include strengthening governance and policies, building capacities, enhancing participatory approaches, supporting small holders in sustainable production technologies, supporting land consolidation processes, income diversification, and improving smallholder access to markets, rural finance and value chains.

The Priority Programme aims to achieve the following results:

  • Increased participation of farmers and rural communities in national development;
  • Enhanced sustainable and inclusive growth of rural economies;
  • Improved sustainable management of natural resources.

Activities are in the following areas:

  • sustainable management of agricultural land and water resources;
  • intensification of smallholders’ production in a sustainable manner;
  • strengthening the organizations of small producers and family farms;
  • enhancing rural services – such as advisory services and micro-loans.

Results are foreseen mainly in:

  • increased participation of farmers and rural communities in national development;
  • enhanced sustainable and inclusive growth of rural economies; 
  • improved sustainable management of natural resources;
  • dissemination of sustainable agricultural best practices;
  • strengthened governance to support producers and resource managers;
  • enhanced and equitable access by smallholders to productive resources, services, organizations and markets;
  • development of inclusive and efficient agribusinesses and agrifood chains.

Related news and events

Events

14/9

2022

Leveraging the potential of multi-purpose land consolidation in Eastern Europe
Hybrid Event, 14/09/2022

FAO and the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) are organizing a joint sessions during the 2022 FIG Congress with a special focus on the potential for multi-purpose land consolidation in countries of Eastern Europe.   The objective of the session