Katalin Ludvig Deputy Regional Initiative Delivery Manager

1. Regional Initiative on Empowering Smallholders and Family Farms for Improved Livelihood and Poverty Reduction Katalin Ludvig Deputy Regional Initiative Delivery Manager FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

2. Some regional characteristics • Europe and Central Asia is largely a region of smallholders and family farms.In most countries outside the EU members countries this is due to the outcome of the land reforms carried out from the early 1990s and onwards. • Arable agricultural land is in many countries a scarce resource but still land abandonment is widespread. • Many small farms are not competitive in the globalized economy. • The rural population is aging. • Few income alternatives to agriculture. • Poverty levels are usually the highest in rural areas. Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

3. Regional challenges to be addressed by the RI • Inhomogeneous region with huge differences from Western Balkan to Central Asia • How to support (semi-)subsistence family farms in becoming commercial? • How to ensure integrated rural development for rural communities – to ensure that the most vulnerable and poor are also benefitting including women and youth? • In general, how to bridge policy and field level? Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

4. REU Regional Initiative 1: Empowering Smallholders and Family Farms for Improved Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction Seven focus countries in Europe and Central Asia Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

5. Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

6. Innovative practices for sustainable agriculture production • Promotion of good agriculture practices, e.g. on integrated pest managementin the region. • In Moldova training programmes on best irrigation practices through Farmer Field School. • Promotion of sustainable forest management and wood energy utilization in the region. • Knowledge sharingon innovative practices for sustainable livestock productionand on genetic conservation. Empowering Smallholders and Family Farms through the innovative practices for sustainable livestock production, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine 30-31 March 2016

7. Capacity Development of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia: Improved Policy Making and Effective Implementation of the Strategy for Agricultural Development • Improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector throughsupporting the elaboration of the National Rural Development Strategy and facilitating the inter-ministerial discussion. • Provide capacity development to the Ministry of Agriculture on specific topics on rural developement, monitoring, land consolidation, etc. • Local Development Strategies are planned to be elaborated in two pilots with participatory approaches and piloting some identified measures. • Pilot measures were introduced in Racha area for modernization of agricultural holdings through construction and renovation of pig farms and smoking facility for ham production.

8. Streamlining of agriculture and rural development policies of South-Eastern European(SEE) countries for EU accession Commonproblem: • The lack of dialogue between policy makers and academics, as well as the lack of a reliable and well systematized database; • This generates a critical knowledge gap that hinders EU integration; Result: • Closer cooperation and stable relationship between policy makers and academics, and between the SEE countries; • Book titled Agricultural Policy and European Integration in South-Eastern Europe. Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

9. More examples of projects under the Regional Initiative • National strategies for agriculture and rural development were supported in Albania, Georgia and Macedonia. • Introduction of land consolidation will be supported in Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Ukraine; FYR Macedonia Mainstreaming the national land consolidation programme; • Regional LANDNET Conference is organized every year to discuss technical issues related to land consolidation. • Seven awareness raising workshopson the Voluntary Guidelines on theResponsible Governance of Tenure(VGGT) in 7 countries. Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

10. Strategic approach of Regional Initiative in support of smallholders and family farms: • Working at policy and farm / community level. • Aiming at developing country work programmes based on the needs in each focus country and the competitive advantage of FAO. • Implement a regional project in the focus countries in support of the RI with following outputs: • Conduct country studies of needs and constraints for smallholders and family farms in each focus country and prepare regional synthesis report • External and internal awareness raising of issues related to smallholders and family farms and of the Regional Initiative • RI action plan prepared for each focus country feeding into the workplanning for next biennium Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

11. E-Agriculture: How to make sure that smallholders are not left out? • Specific focus could be the younger generation of smallholders and family farmers; • Approach: top-down („by request of gov./ministry) + bottom-up (involvement of farmers); • For bridging the gap between the policy and farm level: we need extension / advisory services, NGOs, associations; + International organizations and resourses. Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

12. Key issues for discussion • What are the development constrains of smallholders and family farmers in Europe and Central Asia? • What are the opportunities and threats for smallholders in using ICTs? • What are the recommendations to improve the ICT opportunities for farmers, which could be incorporated in the national e-Agriculture Strategy? • What concrete actions should be taken after the expert consultation? Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016

13. Thank you Contact us Regional Initiative Delivery Management team: Morten Hartvigsen & Katalin Ludvig http://www.fao.org/europe/regional-perspectives/smallholders-family-farms/en/ Expert Consultation on e-Government aspects of national e-Agriculture strategies for sustainable family farming Visegrád, Hungary; 22-24 June 2016