FAO experiences with land market development and land management instruments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Most countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have farm structures characterized by excessive land fragmentation and small average farm sizes. Well-functioning agricultural land markets are a precondition for agricultural and rural development in general. However, agricultural land markets remain weak and still face many constraints in the region. Land management instruments such as land consolidation and land banking in addition to facilitating agricultural development also contribute to land market development. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is providing technical assistance to the member countries Morten Hartvigsen – Maxim Gorgan: FAO experiences with land market development and land management instruments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Law ISSN 1788-6171, 2020 Vol. XV No. 29 pp. 85-103, https://doi.org/10.21029/JAEL.2020.29.85 * FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (Budapest, Hungary), e-mail: morten.hartvigsen@fao.org. Morten Hartvigsen is since 2015 working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Budapest, Hungary, as Land Tenure Officer and Delivery Manager of the FAO Regional Initiative on empowering smallholders and family farms. He graduated as Chartered Surveyor in 1991 from Aalborg University, Denmark. In 2015, Morten Hartvigsen defended at Aalborg University his PhD Thesis ‘Land Reform and Land Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989 – Experiences and Perspectives.’ In his professional career, he was during 1991 – 2006 employed by the Land Consolidation and Land Banking Unit of the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food. During 2006–2015, he was Head of the Land Management Section at Orbicon A/S, a private Danish consultancy with 500 employees. Since 2000, he has worked internationally with land consolidation, land management, land market development and rural development. ** FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (Budapest, Hungary), e-mail: maxim.gorgan@fao.org. Maxim Gorgan is from 2020 Land Tenure Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. He joined the organization in 2016 as International Consultant. He holds a Master Degree in Economics and Business Management from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, MAICH (Greece) and a Bachelor in Finance from the Academy of Economic Sciences of Moldova. His professional experience started in Moldova in 2007 with involvement in the World Bank funded Voluntary Land Consolidation Pilot Project in six villages. During 2009-2011, he was employed by the Ministry of Agriculture of Moldova to coordinate the upscaling of land consolidation in 40 villages. During 2011-2016, he was Head of the Land Tenure Section of the nongovernmental organization ACSA in Moldova. From 2011, he started to work internationally as Land Consolidation and GIS Expert. Morten Hartvigsen – Maxim Gorgan Journal of Agricultural and FAO experiences with land market development and land Environmental Law management instruments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 29/2020 86 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia related to development of agricultural land markets and introduction of land management instruments such as land consolidation and land banking.