Recent updates Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

UK | Supply Chains No Longer Fit For Purpose

November 27, 2021 Vicki Hird

Farmers in England and Wales want to move away from centralised supply chains where they say they have little influence over prices, not enough connection to consumers, and are not rewarded for delivering positive climate and nature outcomes. This is according to the findings of Sustain in its report ‘Beyond the Farmgate’ which lays out the results of a new survey of 500 English and Welsh farmers. […]

MEPs have a final plenary CAP vote this week – what’s at stake?

November 22, 2021 Oliver Moore

Despite the spin, after years of negotiations, the CAP that will be voted on this week in Strasbourg does little of substance to really address the crises – climate and biodiversity – and does as little as possible to address fairness. And there will be much talk of the greenest CAP ever, but this is mostly hot air unfortunately. Here we outline what’s being voted on in plenary, present related survey data from EEB/Birdlife, IFOAM EU and share the views of Sommer Ackerman of the Withdraw the CAP movement. […]

Webinar: La Política Agrícola Común más allá de la Unión Europea: Consideraciones para Centroamérica

November 18, 2021 Melina A Campos

Este webinar tiene como objetivo presentar cómo las políticas, legislaciones y sistemas de ejecución europeos desempeñan un papel en obstaculizar o promover la sostenibilidad de los productos agrícolas y alimenticios de Centroamérica (CA), y de terceros países comercializados dentro del mercado de la Unión Europea (UE), especialmente tomando en cuenta las disposiciones legales de la regulación del Organización Común de los Mercados (OCM) y su interrelación con los Acuerdos de Asociación. […]

Germany | Hitch Up the Wagon it’s Time to Transform Agriculture

November 18, 2021 ARC

Agricultural industry, species extinction, nutrition, climate: If we reform agriculture, we could achieve great things. Such reform should be a priority for the incoming “traffic-light” coalition government in Germany, but will it rise to the task? Tanja Busse has more. […]

Manifesto for Regenerative Agriculture Adopted at Climate Farming Congress

November 17, 2021 ARC

A Manifesto for Regenerative Agriculture was signed by participants of the first Climate Farming Congress which took place in Germany this month. Experts and practitioners came together with the objective of unifying the voice of regenerative agriculture in Europe. […]

COP26 | Gender Day – Othering The Soil, And Other Climate Blindspots

November 17, 2021 Ursula Billington

Integrating women’s rights into climate action, with food and farming at the centre, is vital if planetary health is to be successfully restored. This was the message from a Gender Day event at COP26 that underscored the links between climate change, equality and the role of women in agriculture. Ursula Billington reports. […]

Letter From The Farm | A Swiss Shepherdess In Bohemia

November 12, 2021 Louise Kelleher

Jacqueline Frantová was a young Swiss urbanite when she first came to the Czech Republic in the mid-nineties. It was the “Wild East”, a place where anything could happen. Little did she suspect she would become a shepherdess. Today Jacqueline and her Bohemian family raise goats, sheep and cows in the Czech countryside. […]

COP26 | Corporations Team Up With CSOs To Push Big Data Solutions For Sustainable Food & Farming Systems

November 11, 2021 Ursula Billington

Food and farming is notable by its almost total absence from climate change discussions at COP26. Yet farmers can and want to be part of the solution. Could big data be the key to unlocking a transition to sustainble farming and food systems? An unlikely alliance of multinational corporations and civil society organisations makes the case for a Global Farm Metric. Ursula Billington reports. […]

Food Sovereignty, Climate Action and Local Resilience

November 10, 2021 ARC

Here we republish the introduction to ‘Food Sovereignty, Climate Action and Local Resilience’, a pamphlet produced by the Green European Foundation with the support of Green Foundation Ireland and Cultivate. […]

New Research Shows 50 Year Binge On Chemical Fertilisers Must End To Address The Climate Crisis

November 10, 2021 ARC

As COP26 gets underway, now is the time for the world to kick its addiction to synthetic N fertilisers and urgently transition to farming without fossil fuels and chemicals. A brief by Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), GRAIN and Greenpeace International. […]

Netherlands | Reducing the Food System’s External Costs

November 9, 2021 Joost de Jong

The food environment, a shift towards vegetables, and true cost true prices. There are the themes our colleagues in the Dutch Food Transition Coalition focused on in a submission on sustainable food systems in the EU. You can read an adapted version of the Dutch submission below, written by Willem Lageweg (director) Joost de Jong (strategic advisor) Dutch Food Transition Coalition. […]

Letter From The Farm | The Slower Path To Paradigm Change

November 5, 2021 Chiara Garini

We’re back on Chiara Garini’s farm at the foot of the Italian Alps. After her ambitious plans to open an on-farm restaurant, Chiara reflects on the benefits of taking the slower path to paradigm change. Paradoxically this setback serves well her overall vision of agri-food systems as the farm continues to reap the benefits of diversification. Meanwhile in local politics, divisive narratives around farming have led to a disappointing development, leaving Chiara more convinced than ever that agroecology is the way forward. […]

Flood Protection – Let’s Start with Soil

November 2, 2021 Andrea Beste

Increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including flooding, are unfolding in real time as climate change intensifies. Here, soil expert Dr. Andrea Beste delves deep into soil, and, in particular soil compaction and its role in flooding. While CAP and EU Directives have done little to help improve our soils and reduce flooding, there are, in organic farming, techniques to help get the best from our soils. […]

Things will only get worse: Post-Brexit reality is hitting farmers hard

November 1, 2021 ARC

Following Brexit, the four countries that make up the UK will each treat basic payments to farmers differently. For farmers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland payments will remain the same – at least for now. For farmers in England, change is coming faster. With Marianne Landzettel of the Sustainable Food Trust. […]

Switzerland | Illegal Seeds – Really?

October 27, 2021 ARC

“The seeds regulation is unconstitutional.” A thesis from the University of Geneva’s Faculty of Law demonstrates that the system that decides which plant varieties can be sold in Switzerland contradicts other objectives of agriculture under the Swiss constitution, such as safeguarding the environment, landscape and local economy. By Anton Vos. […]