Promoting bioeconomy through agriculture practice in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Kacprzak, A.; Ferri, M.;

Promoting bioeconomy through agriculture practice in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2025

Place of publication Budapest, Hungary ;

Pages 58 p.

Author Kacprzak, A.; Ferri, M.;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Category Technical study

ISBN 978-92-5-139541-7

Full item page

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3868en

Synopsis (short abstract) This report, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), explores the promotion of bioeconomy through sustainable agricultural practices in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The analysis highlights the critical role of sustainable and circular bioeconomy in addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges, particularly in the agrifood sector. By leveraging nature-based solutions, reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, and revitalizing rural areas, the bioeconomy fosters ecosystem restoration, food security, and climate resilience.The report provides an in-depth regional assessment, identifying key agricultural practices aligned with bioeconomy principles. It evaluates production trends, regional agricultural systems, and the integration of bioeconomy strategies across diverse subregions, from the Western Balkans to Central Asia. The findings underscore the potential for bioeconomy to drive innovation in value chains, reduce environmental impact, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Challenges such as limited statistical compatibility and uneven availability of data across subregions are addressed. Despite these limitations, the document offers a foundational perspective for understanding the intersection of bioeconomy and sustainable agriculture. It also identifies opportunities for further research and policy development to optimize the transition towards sustainable agrifood systems, emphasizing collaboration, resource efficiency, and technological innovation.

Cite this content as:

Kacprzak, A. and Ferri, M. 2025. Promoting bioeconomy through agriculture practice in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Budapest, FAO.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3868en

Read on Google Books and buy online

Language English

Also available in:

Russian

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Brochure
Promoting sustainable and circular bioeconomy through agriculture practice in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 2023

Also available in:

Russian

This report presents an overview of concepts related to bioeconomy and the benefits of their implementation in agriculture and shares agriculture production trends, bioeconomy initiatives and sustainable agriculture approaches from throughout the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. It provides a canvas for the consideration of potential policies and initiatives that can support the development of sustainable agriculture approaches, adapted to each country, and the promotion of bioeconomy in agriculture practice in the region. Sustainable agriculture approaches – particularly organic production and climate-smart farming – are steadily gaining ground in the region. Bioenergy has significant untapped potential, and agroforestry and pastoralist activities also present important unused opportunities, given the low levels of investment needed for their implementation.
Book (stand-alone)

Technical book

Building a sustainable bioeconomy in Africa through forest products
Trends, opportunities and challenges
2024

Also available in:

No results found.

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the current status of Africa’s forest and circular bioeconomy and prospective future trends. By synthesizing evidence across several studies, the report seeks to provide an understanding of the current status of the forest economy in Africa including consumption and production trends, sector entry points, existing market opportunities, challenges, lessons learned, and gaps, as well as impactful investment cases for the forest and circular bioeconomy. It also examines future trends and opportunities for the African continent in the forest economy.
Book (stand-alone)

Technical report

Report on monitoring schemes and data collection on biodiversity for food and agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 2021

Also available in:

No results found.

Biodiversity protection encompasses key aspects directly related to the sustainability of our food systems: BFA provides a diverse and heterogenous biological basis for diverse and resilient production systems, for the pollination of cultures, for increased diversity of food, and is strongly linked to local and indigenous knowledge on local crops and breeds acknowledged as cultural heritage. This study examines the existence of data collection, monitoring systems, and conservation initiatives as well as legislation and policies related to biodiversity for food and agriculture in the three following regions: (1) Central Asia, (2) the South Caucasus countries, Turkey, Belarus and Ukraine and (3) the Western Balkan countries and the Republic of Moldova. From this study, it appears that none of the three studied regions currently have any solid monitoring schemes for agricultural biodiversity, nor do they have a strong legal framework for protecting farmers’ rights to seeds that would allow them, amongst other things, to maintain biodiversity. Conservation actions, policies, and legislation generally concern wild biodiversity conservation (through habitat protection) and crop genetic resources conservation but rarely address biodiversity for food and agriculture or wild biodiversity loss caused by food systems. The three regional reports conducted in the framework of this study reported a general lack of capacities and a particularly low level of involvement of farmers and other food producers in monitoring, data collection, and conservation activities. The combination of these two major observations leads us to the conclusion that the governance of BFA should be transformed to put food producers at the centre of biodiversity monitoring and conservation, in dialogue with scientists and institutional actors. Their specific expertise must be acknowledged and valued in the efforts of preserving the biodiversity that they cultivate and sustain. Beyond this needed shift in the governance of monitoring activities, we highlight the necessity of a regional articulation of monitoring efforts and a specific focus on local threatened varieties and breeds (beyond habitat conservation), while very comprehensively considering BFA and wild biodiversity impacted by food systems. Regarding biodiversity protection, we recommend – in addition to farmer-centered data collection and monitoring system implementation – addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss, adopting a systematic approach in legislations, policies, and actions while supporting agroecology, and fulfilling international instruments that guarantee the rights of producers to grow and raise local varieties and breeds.