This regional publication provides an overview of the development of organic agriculture in eighteen (18) countries in the following ECA sub-regions: Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan); Eastern Europe (Belarus, Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine); South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia); and South Eastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). The report includes an in-depth analysis of how these countries have achieved the current state of organic agriculture regarding legislative and policy frameworks, governance systems, production, key actors, marketing, opportunities and challenges, and future strategies. The presence of transparent and reliable information enables credibility, informed decision-making and policy-making, and investment in the development of the organic agriculture sector.

Agroecology is rooted in agricultural heritage systems based on small-scale food producers from all food sectors (pastoralism, fisheries, forestry and agriculture). It contributes to building resilient food systems, starting with greater integration of biodiversity into agricultural production systems and landscapes. By diversifying production, agroecology also contributes to diversified and healthy diets. It replaces costly external inputs with the management of local biodiversity and ecosystem services based on the combined knowledge of family farmers and science creating more resilient communities including by creating off-farm job opportunities. Also, it is based on context-specific design and organization, of crops, livestock, farms, landscapes local culture and knowledge. This publication aims to provide an overview of actions and initiatives on Agroecology in Europe and Central Asia countries.

The new edition of this annual publication (previously published solely by IFOAM and FiBL) documents recent developments in global organic agriculture. It includes contributions from representatives of the organic sector from throughout the world and provides comprehensive organic farming statistics that cover surface area under organic management, numbers of farms and specific information about commodities and land use in organic systems. The book also contains information on the global market of the burgeoning organic sector, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations, and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by continent from the worlds foremost experts. For this edition, all statistical data and regional review chapters have been thoroughly updated. Completely new chapters on organic agriculture in the Pacific, on the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture and on organic aquaculture have been added. Published with IFOAM and FiBL

The countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia urgently need to accelerate the integration of environmental concerns into their agricultural and forestry sectors. Policies and laws promoting integration have undoubtedly improved, but implementation is lagging, particularly in the east and in agriculture. Integrating Environment into Agriculture and Forestry raises awareness of the pressing need to step up progress on implementation. Failure to integrate environment into agriculture and forestry will have major economic and human health implications, eg. soil salinity in Uzbekistan is estimated to cost $1 billion per year, while soil erosion is estimated to cost Moldova at least $40 million per year. Agriculture and forestry are also highly sensitive to climate change and it is critical for the countries in the sub-region to build awareness and the capacity to proactively integrate climate change adaptation into agriculture and forestry sector policies, programs and investments. These sectors contribute about 15 percent of GDP and support the 35% of the population who live in rural areas of the sub-region. Report recommendations include: the imperative of using economic cost-benefit analysis as a base for decision making, scaling up of successful pilot projects, and development and implementation of climate change risk management adaptation plans.The report includes a companion CD-ROM which contains 21 in-depth reviews of Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

The report brings together the information shared during the Regional Seminar on Agroecology in Europe and Central Asia. The aim of the report is to showcase the work and discussions held during the Regional Symposium and to inform the participants and wider audiences (all relevant stakeholders of Agroecology in the region) on the meeting, its content, discussions and outcomes.