Recent updates Archives - Page 27 of 86 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Reclaiming the Place of Agrobiodiversity in the Conservation and Food Debates

October 12, 2020 ARC

Both academic and policy debates tend to focus on how to further intensify agricultural landscapes to spare natural lands for natural biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. This Brief from IDDRI elaborates on a literature review of recent publications to argue that equal attention should be paid to the protection and restoration of biodiversity within agricultural landscapes, most notably for the role it plays as a critical production factor. […]

Commission Proposes Four Flagship Eco-schemes – ARC2020 analysis

October 12, 2020 ARC

On Friday 09 October 2020, the Commission finally put forward four flagship eco-schemes for the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation. What has been proposed, and what are the considerations with each of these potential eco-schemes? […]

Russia | Climate Crisis & Fields of Possibility

October 9, 2020 Alia Yakupova

Russia is at a crossroads: will it dominate global export markets, or deliver stability and climate solutions for rural areas? In the third and final installment in our Russia series, Alia Yakupova and Hannes Lorenzen explore the fields in which Russia is fighting the battle with the climate and biodiversity crises. […]

Russia | Where Is Agriculture Going?

October 7, 2020 Alia Yakupova

Part 2 of our Russia series aims to shed a light on the Russian agricultural industry and changes that lie ahead. Alia Yakupova and Hannes Lorenzen walk us through a brief history of Russia and the potential impact of recent developments on global agriculture and food. […]

New Seed Platform – Seeds4All – Launches

October 5, 2020 ARC

Seeds4All is dedicated to seed diversity, and it aims to “give visibility to all European organisations that collect, enrich, produce, disseminate and sustainably use traditional and new varieties of seeds belonging to the public domain, freely reproducible and not genetically modified.” […]

Russia | 2000m² of Hospitality

October 5, 2020 Hannes Lorenzen

To kick off our new series on Russia, Hannes Lorenzen takes us to the tiny village of Kalinino, where he was overwhelmed by the local hospitality. Here, each family produces much of their own food on around 2000m² of land. […]

The Missing Funds for Agroecology: What’s Europe’s Role?

October 1, 2020 ARC

The lack of funds by international donors and European countries towards agroecology is a blocking factor for the transformation needed in our food systems. […]

Czech Republic | Wrangling with the Next Generation

September 30, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Meet Czech farmer Terezie Daňková, who raises cattle and sheep on a 450 ha. ranch on mostly rented land in Southern Bohemia, with the help of her cowgirl daughter Barbora (20), her son Vojtěch (13), and a stable of horses. Louise Kelleher speaks to two generations of women farmers about the realities of rural life, the pull of the city, and what brings them back to the farm. […]

The Culling Debate That’s Polarizing Poland

September 28, 2020 Igor Tomasz Olech

To cull or not to cull? As Poland’s battle with African Swine Fever rages on, state-sponsored efforts to decimate the wild boar population have polarized public opinion. In part 2 of this series, Igor Tomasz Olech examines the two sides of the culling story. […]

New IAASTD+10 Book – Transforming Our Food Systems

September 24, 2020 ARC

A critical new book released today (24th September) by United Nations’ World Agriculture Report (IAASTD) members calls for an accelerated transformation of our food systems. The authors, including ARC2020’s Benny Haerlin, point to the need for a paradigm shift in the perception of the global food system, incorporating agroecology. Here we feature an op-ed by Katharine Earley. […]

CAP not the Major Barrier for Smallholder Development in Africa – Matthews

September 21, 2020 ARC

The detrimental impact of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in developing countries has long been scrutinized by activists, political groups and developmental organizations. But professor Alan Matthews warns in this interview the CAP is no longer the main culprit when it comes to smallholder underdevelopment in Africa. […]

Insect Atlas: Europe’s Killing Fields

September 21, 2020 ARC

In Europe’s killing fields, the biggest driver of insect decline is monoculture-dominated and pesticide-reliant industrial agriculture. The EU should channel the billions it spends on CAP to support climate- and insect-friendly farming practices, argue Sandra Bell, Barbara Unmüßig and Jagoda Munić. […]

CAP | Parliament’s Political Groups Make Moves as Committee System Breaks Down

September 16, 2020 Oliver Moore

With the summer recess rapidly becoming a distant memory, EU parliament discussions on CAP are being relaunched this week. We look at the new dynamic, what’s expected from the new round of negotiations, and what issues are on the table for now. […]

Poland | The Biosecurity Battle with African Swine Fever on Farms

September 16, 2020 Igor Tomasz Olech

Since crossing the EU’s Eastern borders more than half a decade ago, African Swine Fever (ASF) has continued its march westwards. Igor Tomasz Olech walks us through the biosecurity measures brought in to curb the spread of African Swine Fever in Poland. […]

The Netherlands | Are Agri-Food Workers Only Exploited in Southern Europe?

September 14, 2020 ARC

In the Netherlands cheap food comes at a high cost to migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the labour-intensive horticulture sector. EU enlargement has opened the door to an erosion of labour rights guarantees, report Karin Astrid Siegmann and Tyler Williams. […]