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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
12 national coalitions, representing over 400 organisations from a wide range of interests, have come together to demand radical reform in CAP. Releasing a co-signed letter to coincide with the informal AGRIFISH meeting Monday 31st August to Tuesday 1st September, the letter is pulls no punches in calling out CAP. […]
Slowly the CAP has become less focused on only promoting exports and more on sustainable development. But that progress might be undone once member states start formulating their own agricultural policy objectives. Hans Wetzels explains. […]
Pollinators secure our food supply, but Europe’s wild pollinators are being wiped out by intensive agriculture and the use of pesticides and fertilisers. In the latest in a series of damning reports, the European Court of Auditors accuses the Commission of failing ailing pollinator populations. Louise Kelleher reports. […]
Big Dairy’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, but the corporations responsible are not being held to account. Meanwhile consolidation in the dairy industry is squeezing smaller operators and hurting rural communities. It’s time to hold agribusiness accountable for its climate footprint, argues Shefali Sharma in a new report from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. […]
Help ARC2020 build a vision and strategy for rural Europe, by joining the civil society participation at a high level webconference on 7th July. […]
An unpleasant stench stank out cities across Europe this spring as the pandemic-induced drop in emissions from transport and industry cleared the air for agricultural air pollution. As luck would have it, the Covid-19 lockdowns coincided with peak slurry-spreading time – making the stink all the more pungent. But there’s more to manure than a bad smell to worry about. Alison Brogan reports. […]
The EU has funnelled €66 billion into farmland biodiversity since 2014 – and has little to show for it. That’s the conclusion of a special report released on Friday by the European Court of Auditors. The auditors slammed the half-baked targets of the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, its odd-couple relationship with CAP, lack of monitoring, and some very un-smart spending by the European Commission. A series of recommendations have been made. Louise Kelleher reports. […]
Unusually for these times, this week a cautious optimism is in the air. The European Commission has unveiled its much anticipated Farm to Fork strategy, and stuck to its guns with relatively ambitious new targets for agriculture. Predictably enough, the agri-lobby was not happy. Louise Kelleher walks us through the reactions. […]
Some things move fast while others can seemingly be delayed indefinitely. And sometimes, as if by magic, both can happen at one and the same time. So it is with the CAP transitional regulation, where real transformation in agri-food is delayed by a further two years – but the process to do this is itself being fastracked at breakneck speed. The CAP process it seems, is running to stand still. […]
If you can’t beat them, join them. Perhaps this was the thinking behind consultants and lobbyists working for the agrochemical and food industry, who have joined the newly created European Food Forum, a so-called MEP-industry forum. In this article written by Hans van Scharen, Nina Holland and Martin Pigeon of Corporate Europe Observatory, the role of the European Food Forum is examined in detail. […]
European Coordination of Via Campesina’s call to join the#StayHomeButNotSilent call to action on April 17 to commemorate the International Day of Peasant Struggle, reiterates the fundamental role of peasants in feeding people, even in the most difficult times. It takes a crisis for alternative food systems to emerge. Is our food system, dominated by trade ideology instead of human rights, ready to face pandemics? […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention