In many countries of the Europe and Central Asia region, the majority of smallholder farmers own fragmented land parcels that are difficult to farm efficiently, hampering economic growth and sustainable production.

One solution is land consolidation, the reallocation of agricultural land parcels to improve the farm structure. At a three-day LANDNET workshop in Budapest, Hungary, from 28 to 30 May, experts from more than 30 countries will discuss how the process benefits women’s land rights and tenure security, combats climate change and land degradation, and boosts the development and regulation of agricultural land markets.

North Macedonia’s forestry sector, historically the country’s primary greenhouse gas (GHG) sink, is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. More frequent forest fires, rising temperatures, and land use changes are weakening the sector’s ability to sequester carbon. To reverse...

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.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) this week held a two-day workshop for experts, representatives of universities and other partners from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Türkiye to teach them more about the approach and share best practices. As a platform for presenting achievements, sharing lessons learned and strengthening regional collaboration on the future of IPM, the workshop set the ambitious goal of encouraging long-term commitment to IPM strategies across the region.

A three-day workshop aimed at strengthening regional cooperation for the surveillance and control of PPR is underway in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Field veterinarians and epidemiologists from Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Tajikistan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan are participating in sessions on outbreak investigation, cross-border risk assessment, and emergency response planning.

A training course on strategic carbon accounting was held this week in Belgrade, Serbia to give experts and businesspersons practical tools to measure and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the agrifood sector. The training was convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of a larger project on Developing Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDC) Roadmaps for Climate-Smart Agrifood Systems, that is helping  Serbia and Uzbekistan decarbonize agrifood systems, adapt to climate risks, and attract private sector investment.

Today on World Bee Day, we all have an opportunity – whether we work for governments, organizations or civil society or are concerned private citizens – to promote actions that will protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats, improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping. Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the publication Digital technologies and solutions for beekeeping explores how innovative technologies are helping support this vital practice, boosting productivity and complementing the deep-rooted expertise, knowledge and skills of beekeepers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), is ready to provide Montenegro with the tools needed to modernize its feed methods and accelerate the livestock sector: new types of seeds, fertilizer, expert knowledge and reinforcing the power of community, all of which are important in empowering smallholders and gearing up the agricultural sector, scaling up production, and supporting the country’s accession process to the European Union (EU).

Starting today, a two-day session of the Informal Consultation, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will again be hosted by Hungary in Budapest, with the objective to shape and refine the FAO priorities for the Europe and Central Asia region for 2026–2027 in the context of a rapidly changing world and the countdown to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over 30 Members from the European and Central Asia region have come to the session, opened by the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary Istvan Nagy and FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, Viorel Gutu. 

“The airborne spores of rusts do not respect borders, as Norman Borlaug indicated,” says Fazil Dusunceli, Plant Pathologist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), referring to the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his contribution to the Green Revolution. “The rust fungi mutate into new strains which travel in the air, creating new risks in different regions in their trail.”