The presentations and discussions focused on the role of women in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia), but also highlighted cases from the Russian Federation, other Eastern European countries (Belarus, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) and Turkey. This summary lists examples of promising practices in the region and beyond to improve the socio-economic opportunities of rural women and young people. In addition, based on the discussions of all three webinars, the summary offers a range of policy recommendations that can be deployed by FAO and Members.

Each issue of FAO Europe and Central Asia Gender Newsletter explores and discusses women’s and men’s experiences in agriculture and food security in the region familiarizes the reader with relevant FAO activities and initiatives. In each quarterly issue, the reader meets our real heroes and reads their stories: how communities, especially women from remote villages, strive to achieve a better life and how FAO together with various partners and governments stand hand-in-hand with them to achieve effective results.

The private sector is increasingly recognizing that smallholder farmers and medium-sized, small and micro enterprises offer many opportunities, but face many challenges engaging with these groups.

This report is prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Coalition for Green Economy and Development of G-Global in Kazakhstan under the Technical Support Programme Facility (TCPF) project “Supporting the nationalization of Sustainable Development Goals in Kazakhstan” (TCP/KAZ/3702) with the aim to present an overview of food security and nutrition situation in Kazakhstan. The analysis provided in the report is based on the latest data from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) and the Bureau of National Statistics in Kazakhstan.

This paper examines the preconditions for collective action in the context of Water User Associations (WUAs) in Tajikistan. The paper uses qualitative case studies of five WUAs from three cotton-producing districts of Khatlon region in Tajikistan. Findings suggest that the ability of WUAs to generate collective action for the benefit of the rural community depends on factors internal and external to WUAs. The WUAs in our study tended to exhibit top-down organizational forms which might not bode well for their sustainability. WUAs were set up by donors in a setting where large, collectivized farms and vestiges of command agriculture persist alongside small individual farms. The presence of large farms among smaller holdings makes it difficult for WUAs to distribute water equitably among its members. Local government officials tend to favor the interest of big planters over small independent farms and can exert pressure on WUAs to skew water distribution. By studying the institutional challenges facing water resource management in Tajikistan, a major natural resource challenge facing all the Central Asian economies, the paper identifies opportunities for speeding up the process of agrarian reforms currently underway in all the transition economies.

The project will facilitate regional collaboration and strengthen national capacities to improve surveillance, race analysis and integrated disease management. It will also support the development and deployment of disease resistant varieties.

Fishcap Project aims to increase regional capacities to effectively address the sustainable exploitation, management, protection and development of freshwater resources for sustainable fish production in support of food safety.

a key component of enhancing the food security and ensuring the livelihoods of rural women and men, achieving sustainable rural development and diversification, and reducing rural poverty.