FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Europe and Central Asia Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024

Managing water sustainably for improved food security and nutrition

This report provides the latest updates on hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in Europe and Central Asia, including the cost and affordability of healthy diets. It also explores the central theme of water security, highlighting its critical connections to agriculture, food security and nutrition. While the region has made progress in reducing hunger and food insecurity (SDG Target 2.1), challenges remain in eliminating all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2). 

Publications
10/2025

This publication, "Capitalizing on experiences on permaculture in Europe and Central Asia: Review report of implementation, constraints, and opportunities", is the first part of a two part publication. The review report provides an in-depth look at the practice of permaculture in Europe and Central Asia, exploring its ethics and principles, as well as its benefits and application.

11/2025

The Understanding Antimicrobial Use in Food and Agriculture series is a compilation of country reports, each describing antimicrobial use (AMU) practices and awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the livestock sector. The data presented in these reports was obtained through knowledge-attitudes-practices (KAP) field surveys conducted with farmers of priority livestock production systems, field veterinarians, veterinary pharmacies, and feed mills.

11/2025

This report explores how the global food, energy, and financial crisis has affected Kosovo's agricultural sector, examines changes in production factors, input use, yields, profitability, food security, migration, and policy perceptions. Using surveys, analyses, and interviews, it offers insights and recommendations to strengthen resilience and sustainability.

10/2025

FAO’s first Country Gender Assessment for Montenegro analyses the situation of women and men in agriculture and rural development, identifying key gender gaps and opportunities. It provides a basis for integrating gender perspectives into FAO programmes and national policies for more inclusive, gender-responsive rural development.

04/2024

This report builds upon FAO’s work promoting gender mainstreaming in extension and advisory services, cataloguing challenges and suggesting strategies for increasing the gender responsiveness of rural advisory services globally. The purpose of this review is to apply FAO’s accumulated knowledge about gender equality in the context of rural advisory services to assess the situation in the Europe and Central Asia region.

10/2025

This publication provides a comprehensive analysis of mitigation and adaptation actions for agrifood systems in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of Europe and Central Asia, focusing on progress since the latest NDC Policy Analysis Report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2021.

09/2021

Despite the legal and policy foundation of BiH, gender considerations have only marginally been mainstreamed in state and entity policies on rural development or other sectors related to agriculture. At the state level, the Strategic Plan for Rural Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018-2021) addresses support for women as a cross-cutting initiative but fails to fully mainstream gender. 2021, 94 p.

06/2021

Gender equality is a key to eliminating poverty and hunger, as it has been demonstrated by the FAO throughout its research worldwide. As part of the FAO efforts on generating evidence and knowledge, and in compliance with the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, the purpose of the Country Gender Assessment for Ukraine is to contribute to the production of knowledge for better informed, targeted and gender sensitive actions in agriculture and rural development. 22/06/2021

07/2022

This country gender assessment (CGA) for the Republic of Azerbaijan was undertaken as part of FAO and national commitments to promote gender equality while integrating a gender perspective into its operations. The resulting CGA report focuses on the intersections of gender, agriculture and rural development, and presents a snapshot of critical gender-based inequalities and their consequences for agricultural production and rural livelihoods in Azerbaijan.

06/2016

The purpose of this national gender profile is to collect and compile available data and information from diverse sources in order to shed light on gender disparities in rural settings and the status of rural women across a number of dimensions, with a focus on inequalities in agricultural employment. It aims to provide a picture of the types and degree of the main gender inequalities in agriculture and concerning rural livelihoods in rural Kyrgyzstan. 2016, 68 p.

05/2022

National gender profile of agriculture and rural livelihoods: the Republic of Moldova reflects FAO’s commitment to promoting gender equality, while integrating a gender perspective into its operations. The report focuses on the intersections of gender, agriculture and rural development, and presents a snapshot of critical gender-based inequalities and their consequences for agricultural production and rural livelihoods in the Republic of Moldova. The assessment includes recommendations.

06/2016

The purpose of the National Gender Profile of Agricultural and Rural Livelihoods for Tajikistan is to contribute to the production of knowledge for better informed, targeted and gender sensitive actions in agriculture and rural development. 2016, 56 p.

01/2025

The first Country Gender Assessment for Georgia was initiated in 2018, providing an overview of gender dynamics in agriculture and rural development. This comprehensive assessment reviews the progress made since 2018, highlighting critical gaps, new and persistent challenges and progress achieved.

05/2025

This County Gender Assessment (CGA), the first by FAO for Belarus, identifies gender disparities observed across various dimensions of agriculture and rural livelihoods in the country. The aim of the CGA is to provide a framework and background information as a starting point for more targeted gender analysis in the context of future FAO project design and programming.

08/2025

The Country Gender Assessment (CGA) for Tajikistan offers a comprehensive analysis of gender equality in agriculture and rural development. It identifies key gender disparities, examines their root causes and impacts, and proposes actionable recommendations for gender-responsive policies. Despite being the main agricultural workforce and playing a critical role in food security, women’s contributions remain undervalued, under-recognized, and largely unpaid.

10/2025

This publication, "Capitalizing on experiences in community seed production in Europe and Central Asia: Review report of implementation, constraints, and opportunities" examines the concept of community seed production, its link to different types of seed systems, existing challenges, and role of smallholders in community seeds.

10/2025

This booklet presents the progress and future steps of the FAO programme Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in the Europe and Central Asia region. It aims to provide a clear overview of the regional current state of identification and dynamic conservation of these agricultural heritage systems,highlighting their role as "living laboratories” of resilience, biodiversity, cultural heritage and sustainable agricultural practices to global challenges.

09/2025

This publication "Capitalizing on experiences on permaculture in Europe and Central Asia: Practical manual for small-food producers", is the second part of a two-part series, which also includes "Capitalizing on experiences on permaculture in Europe and Central Asia: Review report of implementation, constraints, and opportunities". The manual focuses on food and agriculture-related practices that support the integration of sustainable agriculture and food systems into broader ecosystems.

03/2025

This report provides the latest updates on hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in Europe and Central Asia, including the cost and affordability of healthy diets. It also explores the central theme of water security, highlighting its critical connections to agriculture, food security and nutrition.

01/2018

General rules concerning geographical indications (for food products) are the same in all European Union countries. In light of this, the aim of the report is not to focus on the solutions of the community; rather, the report attempts to answer the question of how and for what purpose European quality policy tools are used in these countries.