Latest from EU Member States Archives - Page 10 of 68 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

France | Tasting Independence in Beaufortain

June 4, 2021 ARC

In this excerpt from the book “Rural Europe on the Move: A travel guide to transitions”, Philippe Barret tells the story of Beaufortain, a community in the French Alps that has been coming together to practice rural sustainability since the 17th century. Beaufortain also happens to be the home of ARC2020’s project to build rural resilience in France – “Nos campagnes en résilience”. In this chapter you’ll meet some of the key people involved in this latest venture: coordinator Valérie Geslin, volunteer Jeanine Sochas, and farmer Pierre Gachet. […]

Letter From The Farm | Welcome to Ciasnocha Family Farm

May 24, 2021 Mateusz Ciasnocha

Welcome to Ciasnocha Family Farm – a 730 ha regenerative grassland farm in the Vistula delta of northern Poland. In his first Letter From The Farm, Mateusz Ciasnocha walks us through what’s involved throughout the year on his farm. But first, Mateusz gives us a whistlestop tour of the farm’s history over three generations, from Communism to CAP, and the transition to regenerative agriculture. […]

Hidden Formulas and Agri-Media – Can we Find a Fair CAP in Ireland?

May 7, 2021 Matteo Metta

With EU CAP trilogue negotiations entering a critical, final phase, the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine has published the results of a modelling analysis on its official website. This analysis, published in April, attempts to estimate the effects of 85% internal convergence of direct payments by 2026. While the results have been used to make strident, fear-mongering statements in the farming press, the methods used to come to these conclusions remain unclear. And the conclusions may in fact be be quite different to what is being reported in the farming press in Ireland. […]

Pesticide Poisonings – Numbers Revised Upwards Globally

May 5, 2021 ARC

15 times more pesticide poisonings occur annually now than 30 years ago. About 385 million cases of acute unintentional pesticide poisoning occur each year, according to a new systematic review on global pesticide poisoning. This is up from 25 million annually in 1990, the last year such an estimate was made. Here Justice Pesticides outlines key findings of that review, as well as a study on pesticide contamination near intensively managed agricultural areas in South Tyrol, Italy. […]

France | Building Rural Resilience From The Ground Up

May 3, 2021 Hannes Lorenzen

ARC2020 is launching a new project in France to build rural resilience from the ground up. It’s called “Nos Campagnes En Résilience”. The goal is to empower rural communities to realise their own fair and socio-ecological transitions, by connecting and supporting the many exciting initiatives that are emerging on the ground. Why France? And why now? Hannes Lorenzen explains. […]

Agroecology Grows in Hungary

April 30, 2021 ARC

Agroecology is gaining more and more support from different actors around the world and is inspiring new collaborations such as the recently formed Hungarian Agroecology Network. The network was created 5 months ago and has already more than 60 active members from all over Hungary; among them farmers, representatives of producer and consumer groups, of NGOs and short supply chains, academics and researchers. Lili Balough has more. […]

CAP Strategic Plans: Germany Taking Steps in the Right Direction?

April 29, 2021 Sebastian Lakner

In March 2021, the German Agriculture Ministers’ Conference and the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture agreed on important cornerstones for the country’s CAP Strategic Plan. In his preliminary assessment, Sebastian Lackner shows that while the resolutions have opened the door for a more ambitious CAP in Germany, it remains to be seen whether the federal and state governments will seize the opportunity when they decide on details still to be negotiated. […]

Czech Republic | COPA No Longer Defends Interests of Majority of Czech Farmers

April 28, 2021 ARC

Frustrated time and again, the Czech Farmers Association has finally quit COPA. In this op-ed, Jaroslav Šebek, Jan Štefl and Jan Staněk argue that COPA is failing to listen to its members. For them, COPA’s handling of the capping of direct payments was the last straw. […]

Letter From The Farm | Freedom, Forgotten Places And The Future Of Farming

April 28, 2021 Louise Kelleher

We’re back with Czech livestock farmer Josef, who says we need to trust farmers more. Farmers will make responsible decisions unless the system forces them to act irresponsibly. And he explains why the future of farming is in forgotten places. […]

Pesticides | Neonicotinoids Update Spring 2021

April 20, 2021 ARC

Justice Pesticides is an organisation that compiles a worldwide database of pesticide litigation. Here we share two articles from Justice Pesticides’ March newsletter. The first introduces a recently published brochure on court cases involving neonicotinoid pesticides, and the second outlines the return of neonicotinoids to sugar beet fields in France. […]

Rural Semester as a Tool to Deliver a Truly Holistic Policy for Rural Areas

April 15, 2021 ARC

This paper, written by Marjorie Jouen of the Jacques Delors Institute, has benefitted from inputs and reflections of Marion Eckardt, Maria José Murciano-Sanchez, Michael Schmitz, Francesco Mantino and Hannes Lorenzen expressing themselves in their personal capacity. […]

Cut The Crap, Withdraw The CAP!

April 13, 2021 ARC

Climate striker Sommer Ackerman became active in protests for a better CAP in October 2020. She combines activism at EU level in the WithdrawTheCAP campaign with activism at national level to make agri-food policy change in Finland. […]

Letter From The Farm | Rasputin The Ram & The Ethics Of Lamb For Easter Dinner

April 12, 2021 Matthew Hayes

We’re back on Zsámbok farm in Hungary, where Matthew, Kata and the team have been doing some deep thinking about the ethics of taking a life as they slaughter their first sheep. The farm is trying to strike a balance between respecting traditions while pursuing sustainability and efficiency, writes Matthew – and learning as they go. […]

Letter From The Farm | Welcome To The Herdade

March 24, 2021 Freixo do Meio Users Cooperative

Welcome to Herdade do Freixo do Meio, a 600-hectare community farm in Alentejo, Portugal. Run by a cooperative, the farm prides itself on agroecological food production that is local, responsible and conscious. Alfredo Sendim explains how the farm is building resilience through a collective approach. […]

Poland’s CAP plan – Weak Evidence Base, Business as Usual

March 21, 2021 ARC

On December 18, 2020, the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development published the first version of the future National CAP Strategic Plan for public consultation. Almost 4,000 comments were received in response. Here is our analysis. […]