‘Farm land could work as carbon sinks,’ said Dr Jan Mumme, an agricultural engineer at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. ‘This probably wouldn’t work with intensive livestock farming, but sustainable crop production and integrated farm systems (a balance between crops and livestock) could do it – and biochar is one way to help.’ […]
Digital agriculture, broadly defined as the use of mass amounts of data to influence decision-making on farms, has incredible potential to make farms more economically and ecologically sustainable. However, it also poses risks to the privacy, profitability and independence of farmers. Jason Davidson is the Food and Agriculture Campaign Associate at Friends of the Earth (US). […]
The “Ten Years for Agroecology in Europe” (TYFA) scenario developed jointly by IDDRI and the consultancy firm AScA, in collaboration with a scientific council composed of leading researchers, shows that a fully agro-ecological Europe, free from synthetic inputs and based on the redeployment of natural grasslands and the extension of agro-ecological infrastructures (hedges, trees, ponds, stony habitats), could sustainably feed 530 million Europeans by 2050. […]
Will hi-tech save agriculture from its otherwise intractable problems? Certainly technological stakeholders want it to appear so, as digitisation increases both in the fields and in the policy documents and future plans for the sector. So what is the peer to peer and agroecological response to this? […]
This is #AgtechTakeback. L’Atelier Paysan is a French cooperative that works with farmers to design machines and buildings adapted to the specific practices of small farm agroecology. In addition to distributing free plans on its website, L’Atelier Paysan organizes winter self-help training sessions, during which farmers train in metalworking and build tools which they can then use on their own farms. […]
CAP should better support all of those who work the land and produce food, while helping develop agroecological practices. Read extracts from two European Coordination of Via Campesina (ECVC) documents on the Future of CAP. […]
Across the continent, farmers, environmentalists, pastoralists, fishers are grabbing their pots and spoons to call for a more socially and environmentally just European food system. We want to see policy which supports small farmers and rural livelihoods, protects our soil, water, ecosystems and biodiversity and provides healthy food for all. On the 27th and 28th October, let’s make sure we are heard! […]
How do you make the most of what is typically called poor land? Meet agroecologist and farmer Dolores Byrne from the north west of Ireland. And, meet a HUGE spider… […]
After a summer break, we return to our re:CAP series to talk young and new farmers. We speak to Christian Rehmer (BUND – Friends of the Earth Germany), Aurélie Catallo (Pour Une Autre PAC), Ulrich Jaspers (AbL and Die Verbände-Plattform), and Ariel Brunner and Harriet Bradley (BirdLife). […]
As the role of technology increases in farming and food, and corporate powers use this to extend their power, we need to strive for technological developments that are appropriate for farmers, for eaters and for the planet. Welcome to #AgTechTakeback. […]
The German summer 2018 will be remembered for one of the hottest and driest. A long lasting high pressure brought high temperature records combined with extremely low rainfalls. Sebastian Lakner explains the state aids for farmers in Germany amounting to 370 Mio. EUR. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention