As a major agricultural nation in the east, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP will unfold in the current reform process. We have commissioned journalist Hans Wetzels to get to grips with CAP and Poland. Here we introduce part four, which focuses on smaller producers and how they cope with (or without) CAP supports. […]
As a major agricultural nation in eastern Europe, Poland has a significant interest in how CAP reform will unfold. How will Polish farmers and Polish policy makers will adapt to likely changes, including a lower overall CAP budget, greater environmental focus and the new delivery model? Hans Wetzels with a new series. […]
In the second of his two articles on landgrabbing in Poland, Hans Wetzels reports on rural Poland, the rise of the populist right and on sociological critiques of populist claims. We see that landgrabbing, large corporations and EU policy impact some areas and sectors differently to others […]
There has been unrest in rural communities across Poland for some years. Land prices have increased dramatically and despite a moratorium on foreign land purchasing, foreign entities have found a way to buy land. Polish farmers are despairing and protesting en masse. Hans Wetzels reports from Poland on land grabbing. […]
With Ireland edging towards reopening its organic farming scheme – closed since 2015 to new entrants, and closed in 2014 for a year too too – the context of organic farming within the overall agri-food sector is worth exploring. What would it mean for Irish agriculture in general to have a bigger, more vibrant organic sector? Particular attention is paid to the public goods of biodiversity and water quality. […]
The Greens EFA group in the European Parliament launched their policy paper n CAP at an event on the 12th April. Land use, crop rotations and fair incomes were the main focus areas of the day long. Harriet Clayton has more. […]
On 12th October, the European Commission issued guidance for EU Member States on protecting agricultural land from threats such as excessive price speculation and ownership concentration. But does it go far enough? […]
Progress is being made towards land access – and against land concentration – in the EU, with a consultation by the Finance Directorate General.You can read the DG FISMA consultation document and submit your own feedback. Closing date for submissions is very soon – the 7th July. […]
Yiorgos Psychas is member of a grassroots network in Greece called Iliosporoi (sunflower seed) working towards social, political and ecological transition in rural and urban areas of Greece. ARC2020’s Hannes Lorenzen spoke with Yiorgos. […]
Agriculture is losing its farmers. There is a gradual process of land concentration undermining small-scale farming, and consequently the future of a diverse and sustainable cultivation of our land. Farmers are increasingly losing the ground they are working on. […]
By Attila Szocs, Eco Ruralis Land Rights Campaigner Land grabbing in Romania is reaching a blatant level but mobilisation against it is scaling up too. On the 26-27th of September, 2015, Eco Ruralis hosted in Cluj Napoca the first meeting of a newly established Working Group on the Right to Land. During the gathering, Eco Ruralis members and supporters debated important land related problems faced by peasants and agroecological food producers: lack of transparency behind large land acquisitions, equitable access to land for young and future farmers and land policies oriented towards land concentration. The meeting specified future collaboration by the group in order to intervene on the issue of land grabbing and fair access to land in Romania. Defining land grabbing generated an interesting debate inside the group. Several criteria were raised, taking into consideration quantitative and qualitative indicators of what is a land grab. First of all, we noted the duality of the Romanian countryside, where more than half of the available lands are cultivated by small farmers, while the other part is controlled by companies and other actors. This obviously opens up […]
The end of milk quota was greeted with glee in Ireland: that’s changing as prices slump. […]
New interactive map reveals extent of land grabbing in Romania. […]
Between 2002-2010, 150,000 small farms disappeared. And this process has continued since then. A new Report on Land Grabbing by Eco Ruralis reveals shocking extent of the practice. […]
Land acquisitions in Romania are turning rural areas into socio-cultural deserts.And more. With Attila Szocs of Eco Ruralis. […]
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