This report contributes to the project ‘Securing agriculture and rural development in times of COVID-19, pathways to regional responses for recovery, reforms, and resilience’ by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The objectives of the report are threefold: 1) to assess the multiple impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture, food security, and rural community; 2) to review the policy responses taken by the governments of eight Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC) countries to mitigate the effects of the crisis, and 3) to provide contextual options to build the resilience of the agricultural sector during post-COVID-19 recovery and against future shocks.

FAO’s work in Europe and Central Asia and throughout the world is guided by the FAO Strategic Framework, reviewed every four years. In its support for the 2030 Agenda and its drive for a transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, the new FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031 focuses on what are called the four betters – a set of goals that, when implemented, will help ensure that no one is left behind. In each of the FAO programme countries and territories in Europe and Central Asia, the Organization and its many partners achieved great success in 2021 in advancing towards the four betters – better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life. This report provides a snapshot of these important efforts and achievements.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commissioned the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow to organize the international forum “Food policy, rural development and gender equality in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: current trends and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic” which took place on 10, 12 and 17 March 2021. This paper is based on the discussions held at the webinars. It identifies and documents the key issues to inform stakeholders, and serves as a reference for the work of FAO and other development actors in the region. 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.

This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2021 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition

Digital agriculture has the potential to contribute to a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable agriculture and meet the agricultural goals of a country or a region more effectively, and both ICTs and agriculture are important enablers in achieving SDGs. Most stakeholders have long recognized the need for national e-agricultural strategies. Nevertheless, most of the countries have not yet implemented a national strategy for the agricultural sector's use of ICTs. ITU Offices for Europe and CIS regions in collaboration with FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia developed this report on state of Digital Agriculture and Strategies developed in 18 countries. The emerging role of ICTs in Europe and CIS region is clearly observed and experienced as an engine for agricultural development, especially in view of the growing demand for reliable information and its quick access at all levels of the industry. The state of the digital agriculture ecosystem differs from country to country and is also fragmented by the regions, within the individual countries. There is an overwhelming wave of innovation in this area where a digital agriculture strategy can be helpful in finding the right path.

Caucasus and Central Asian countries are strongly committed to promoting food security and nutrition among their populations. Although good progress has been made by most countries in the region, food insecurity and malnutrition remain relatively high and greater efforts are needed to address their root causes. Moreover, wide gaps in terms of income, food security and nutrition, and access to social services have caused substantial migration from rural areas to neighbouring countries. The FAO project on developing capacity for strengthening food security and nutrition in selected countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia aims to promote cross-sectoral collaboration between agriculture, health, education and social protection sectors by carrying out six pilot projects in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These pilots build capacities at field and governmental level and provide an evidence base to build political commitment and coherence for the development of policies, legislations and programmes at the country, regional and global levels. The evaluation concluded that overall the project has been successful. The building of operational capacity among stakeholders and beneficiaries is processing well through the ongoing pilots, while high-level coordination and policy dialogue, and the contribution to global policy processes and frameworks need more time to materialize. The evaluation makes a number of recommendations to further enhance project design, implementation, monitoring and sustainability, and proposes a second phase of at least 1-2 years to consolidate and expand achievements.

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. [Author] 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. [Author] The report provides a snapshot of the extent to which gender considerations are currently integrated into rural advisory services in the region and highlights good practices that are in line with FAO’s gender equality strategies. [Author] The report concludes with recommendations for FAO, partner organizations and stakeholders in the fields of agricultural extension and rural advisory services, on how to further improve such services to extend their reach to rural women and men who have previously had limited or no access. [Author] This process requires moving away from gender‑neutral service provision, which often results in the exclusion of women, towards transformative extension and rural advisory services that challenge unequal gender relations and address underlying discriminatory norms and practices. [Author]