Carbon Farming is the new hype in agriculture. A proposal for a Certification Framework of Carbon Removals was proposed back in November by the Commission and there is a strong push by the Swedish presidency and French government to make it happen quickly. But can a Europe-wide Carbon Farming program coexist with the CAP? In this article, we explore the similarities and contradictions between the two. […]
It’s a long road to building a new way of imagining life in the countryside. We are pleased to share with you ARC2020’s findings from the field in France: “Nos Campagnes en Résilience: Collective Reflections within Socio-Ecological Transition, 2020-2022” . Here we report on the journey so far for the people involved in this project, with an extract from the first chapter of the report: A Collective Adventure. By the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” team. […]
Another rural is possible! ARC2020 and friends were in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland on March 25-26 for the annual Feeding Ourselves gathering, which takes food and farming as an entry point for moving towards fairer, more caring communities. What are the ingredients to cook up transformative system change? How can we build bridges between islands of practice? Why do we need to keep talking about gender? Louise Kelleher gives us a taste of conversations and connections at Feeding Ourselves 2023. […]
If Ukraine joins the European Union, and the current Common Agricultural Policy system of per hectare payments remains untransformed, oligarch-run conglomerates could become eligible for tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money. But this is not the only possible agricultural reality in an enlarged EU. There are farmers, researchers, civic initiatives and officials – like the delegates of Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region who visited Low Saxony in March 2023 – exploring ways to rebuild and reorient the country’s farming and food system in times of war. […]
There is a perception that, when it comes to the farming end of the agri-food system, CAP is primarily about supporting land owners and family farms. Is this the case? And even if so, does the Commission sometimes use the basic underpinnings of CAP to gloss over what are in fact significant, embedded supports for the most intensive end of the farming systems, including livestock? What does this mean for other producers? We attended a webinar on livestock recently, and these questions came to the fore. […]
Running since 1964, the Salon International de l’Agriculture in Paris is a microcosm of the knotted landscape around French agriculture. Visiting it for one day gives just a flavour of the much larger diversity, longer history, and deeper issues of this sector so important for French identities in France and Europe. We visited the 2023 opening day, curious to meet people, understand what is exhibited and what is not, and how. Here are our main takeaways. Photo reportage by Matteo Metta. […]
This weekend the Salon de l’Agriculture kicked off in Paris. Beyond the romanticised picture of farming presented at big agri-food fairs like this, the food and farming system shows no sign of change. So it is with the new CAP, which locks in unsustainable agricultural practices while eroding European cohesion. Carbon farming, offered as a solution, will change nothing in substance. Plus ça change, argues ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen in an Op-Ed for Le Monde. […]
The new funding period of the Common Agricultural Policy has begun. The EU member states, including Germany, have all developed National Strategic Plans to implement the new EU requirements. However, as the following article shows, this reform and its national implementation are not sufficient to achieve environmental, climate, animal wellfare and social objectives. […]
Can local or regional carbon farming programs provide a place-based alternative to a EU-wide, standardised, CAP ressembling carbon farming protocol? A look into the Rete Rurale Nazionale in Italy, and how private agencies in France are responding to the public sector request for carbon farming. […]
The Czech CAP Stragic Plan has now been approved by the European Commission. Agricultural associations had been protesting against the proposed 23% share of direct payments. Terezie Daňková, a Czech farmer from South Bohemia, helps us understand the intricate history and structural composition of Czech farming. […]
On 26 January, the future of post-Brexit agricultural policy in England became clearer with the government’s announcement of six new standards under its Sustainable Farming Incentive. While English farmers may cautiously welcome this long-awaited update, serious challenges remain for the sector in England, and across the United Kingdom. Marianne Landzettel reports. […]
Reflecting on the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which took place earlier this month, Ursula Billington traces common threads that emerged from the rich programme. […]
President of ARC2020 Hannes Lorenzen’s New Year’s letter to set the scene for the year. We spell ARC2023 like this: Action on CAP – Rural resilience – and a Critical mass for system change […]
It looks set to be another stimulating start to the year for real foodies and regenerative farmers as the Oxford Real Farming Conference, “the largest gathering of the agroecological movement on the planet”, returns from 4 – 6 January 2023. […]
For farmers, succession is more than just passing on the physical farm, land and buildings. Once you build up a successful farming enterprise, how do you ensure all of that knowledge and experience is not lost? It’s a question that preoccupies all of the farmers who participated in the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” project. Part two of a series analysing the hot topics around transition, by the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” team. […]
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