ARC, Author at Agricultural and Rural Convention

Nos campagnes en résilience | Cogitations collectives au cœur de la transition socio-écologique

April 17, 2023 ARC

L’association ARC2020 vous invite à découvrir son analyse des recherches-actions menées sur le terrain en France : « Nos campagnes en résilience: Cogitations collectives au cœur de la transition socio-écologique, 2020-2022 », en publiant ici le premier chapitre de nos cogitations collectives : « La transition, une aventure collective ». Dès aujourd’hui, le rapport est disponible à télécharger gratuitement. […]

Main stories

Ukraine Joining the EU – An Elephant in the Room

April 3, 2023 ARC

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. […]

The German CAP Strategic Plan: The Ambition has yet to Come

March 24, 2023 ARC

The German CAP Strategic Plan has the potential for an ambitious CAP 2023 to 2027. While the debate on the next CAP post-2027 is already starting, in this article we argue that the German government needs to exploit all potential in the current CAP to increase the ambition towards more climate change mitigation and the protection and enhancement of natural resources and biodiversity. The coalition agreement gives them the mandate to do so. […]

ECJ Rejects Fourfold Seed Cultivation Fee

March 22, 2023 ARC

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that plant breeders could not claim lump-sum damages from farmers four times the fee due for licensed production in the case of repeated infringements of an EU regulation on community plant variety rights, without proving concrete damages of that same amount. What follows is a translation of a statement released on March 16 by IG Nachbau, a group working to restore the unrestricted right to farm-saved seed. […]

CAP, the Commission and Livestock Supports – Money Matters

March 17, 2023 ARC

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. […]

Excerpt | Arche Noah report on EU Seed Marketing Reform

March 3, 2023 ARC

In preparation of the Commission’s expected proposal for a new seed marketing legislation on June 7th, here we republish with permission an excerpt from the recent Arche Noah report called EU reform of seeds marketing rules: Which seeds for a just transition to agroecological and sustainable food systems? Th e full report delves into the details on the legislative process; here we introduce the general content with an excerpt on diverse seeds and on the EU seed market as it is. […]

Meet the Movement Linking Civil Society with Philanthropy for Food System Transformation

February 2, 2023 ARC

In Berlin, on the eve of the Wir haben es satt! demonstration at which thousands marched for a socio-ecological agricultural future, two of ARC’s founders, Benny Haerlin and Hannes Lorenzen, sat down with Marinke van Riet to discuss her work as “chief weaver” of Healthy Food Healthy Planet. Healthy Food Healthy Planet is an intersectoral coordination effort that connects civil society actors with funders in the transition to healthy, just and sustainable food environments. […]

soup and talk meeting about agri-food Berlin

Five Talks to Catch at Soup & Talk 2023 – this Saturday 21st January

January 18, 2023 ARC

Soup & Talk – an event that celebrates food and farming changemakers all over the world – takes place on Saturday, January 21 from 4 – 7 pm CET. People working for fair and ecological food systems will present their successes, struggles and ideas in 5-minute interventions at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin. In person and livesteam options. So what’s happening? […]

COP out – all eyes on 19th Dec as Council aims to derail Pesticide Regulation (SUR)

December 16, 2022 ARC

As Ministers meet in Montreal to pontificate about biodiversity, back home in Europe they are working hard to keep nature-destroying pesticides flowing. The EU’s attempt at updating the pesticide regulation – the SUR – may be delayed by 6 months if Ministers get their way, making final passage more difficult. Scientists and civil society are now focused on the Council Meeting 19th December when the next delay of SUR may be copper-fastened. Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]

Food Security at the Crossroads: an Exhausted Model or a Sustainable One?

December 6, 2022 ARC

What are the pressures on the agri-food system, what role does CAP and wider EU agri-food policy play, and how could things be different? Here, Spanish organisations outline their problems and solutions. Topics covered include many agri-food system imbalances such as fossil fuels, nutrition, ultra-processing/malnutrition, water, soil, waste, a lack of food sovereignty and spurious war prioritisations. The need for rebalancing and the potential of agroecology are proposed for a more sustainable agriculture. […]

We Are Hiring! Call for Rural Resilience Project Coordinator

December 2, 2022 ARC

ARC is now looking for a project coordinator to animate the Rural Resilience project (“Nos Campagnes en Résilience”) for the period 2023-2024. The project will be concentrated in France and at least one additional EU country. Apply by 15 January 2023! […]

Why Legumes are Necessary for Agroecological Transition

November 23, 2022 ARC

What role for legumes in the agroecological transition? And what is bulatura? Here, author and researcher Lucia Nicastro interviews two farmers – Stefano Vegetabile of Nuove Rotte. Andrea Giaccardi, of l’Orto del Pian Bosco – about how and why they integrate legumes into their farming systems. […]

Rural Realities | Succession – Passing It (All) On To The Next Generation

November 21, 2022 ARC

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. […]

Enjeux de transition | La transmission, ou le trait d’union entre les générations

November 21, 2022 ARC

En allant à la rencontre des acteurs ruraux en France, « Nos campagnes en résilience » a fait le tour des enjeux qui les préoccupent. Bien au-delà de l’aspect matériel et la transmission de leur ferme, les paysans ont à cœur le partage de toutes leurs connaissances, le savoir-faire, l’expertise de terrain qui permet la réussite de leur projet. Car, Paysan est un métier qui se vit. Deuxième partie de l’analyse thématique. Rédaction : l’équipe « Nos campagnes en résilience ». […]

Pesticide Regulation too Important to Delay – Civil Society Orgs

November 10, 2022 ARC

ARC2020, along with 28 other organisations, wrote and co-signed a letter on the unacceptable delays in introducing the EU’s pesticide regulation, called SUR (Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products). Below is the full text of the letter, which was sent to Ministers for Agriculture, Environment and Health, the President of the European Parliament, AGRI and ENVI coordinators, and members of the AGRI and ENVI Committees. […]