Tom Lancaster, Senior Agriculture Policy Officer at the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) assesses the uncertain terrain of the UK, farm subsidies and public goods post Brexit. In doing so, some interesting considerations emerge for the EU too. […]
The European Commission intends to adopt – before the end of 2017 – a Communication on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2020. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made this announcment to 400 delegates at the Agriculture Outlook event in Brussels on Tuesday. […]
Following Jean Claude Junker’s announcement of a CAP Communication by the end of 2017 Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen outlines his vision on where next for CAP. Part of our #AfterCAP debate series. […]
We have to do food better, to create a food system that isn’t feeding half the world so badly they are either undernourished or overweight, that isn’t emitting around 25% of greenhouse gases, that isn’t wasting 30% of what it produces, and that isn’t treating its millions of workers and animals like dirt. […]
The earth beneath your feet is life giving. Today is world soil day so let’s explore the marvels of that more simple yet spectacular of things – dirt. Read on for a treasure trove of soil resources. […]
Livestock plays a central role in the CAP, but there are numerous areas of concern. While the public are interested in better animal welfare standards, policies lead to overproduction of grain and an abundance of cheap livestock products with all the sustainability issues this carries. […]
A major United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) agroecology symposium “Regional Symposium on Agroecology for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems in Europe and Central Asia” featured ARC2020’s Coordinator Samuel Feret will speak on the Friday. […]
Sebastian Lanker and Rainer Oppermann explain how CAP is failing environmentally, before outlining specific budget neutral proposals, including for sustainability and agri-nature payments. […]
Alan Matthews assesses the terrain of competing forces in CAP reform, before suggesting some radical changes post 2020. […]
ARC2020 Coordinator Samuel Féret gives us a veritable cook book of the CAP – one that may have a master template, but with very varied national and regional editions. He also introduces some changes he’d like to see in Europe’s farming policy. […]
We join the millions and millions of people world wide committed to social justice, human rights, and environmental and cultural integrity. […]
In David Attenborough’s foreword to The State of Nature 2016, he writes: “…Nature is in serious trouble and it needs our help as never before.” The report singles out intensive agriculture and climate change as the two most serious threats to biodiversity in the UK. Agriculture still occupies 75% of the UK’s land area and the declining fortunes of mixed farming has led to consolidation and specialisation on a massive scale at landscape level. It is hardly surprising then, that the environmental impact of farming should be an issue of public concern. Look at this picture of a field with an over-wintered crop above: it is typical of thousands up and down the UK. Beneath the serried ranks of seedlings, criss-crossed with tracks that reflect the width of the spraying boom which passes periodically, countless farmland species struggle to adapt to what is often a hostile environment. The State of Nature editorial team identify earlier planting and regular spraying as important underlying factors in the way intensive farming impacts biodiversity. The study draws on long […]
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada has been signed. A day in the sun for supporters of the trade agreement, who claim it will benefit both regions, opponents however point to a number of ratification hurdles and significant concerns which may, they claim, still scupper the deal. […]
We need a radical transformation of agriculture and industrial food systems to deal with future challenges, says Hans Herren, In an interview published in the Foundation on Future Farming’s new brochure “Agriculture at a Crossroads”, he takes stock of the IAASTD’s impact and looks at the current debate on food and farming systems. […]
In our #AfterCAP debate opener, rural sociologist Jan Douwe van der Ploeg outlines his vision for what he calls integrated rural development. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention