What should be the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the future for promoting agroecology? Which local practices and policies exist in Europe that support access to land for young and first generation farmers? Which traditional and new knowledge is available on soil restoration and biodiversity enhancements? Find out at the 2nd Agroecology Europe Forum in Greece 26-28th September. […]
Three-quarters of the Common Agricultural Policy budget goes into direct payments for farmers – almost regardless of what they do. Most of the money benefits just a few large producers and fails to deliver on the social and environmental challenges rural areas face. […]
In part one, we outlined just how bad the situation is regarding climate and biodiversity collapse, as well as the people-driven responses to this – from extinction rebellion to the school strikes. Beyond these alarm-raising direct action initiatives, what is there out there to become the system change that’s so clearly needed? Here in part 2 we introduce the social and solidarity economy, and the interesting lessons we can learn from separatist movements from the past and present, from Quebec to Ireland. […]
Organic livestock farming is the only CAP supported agri-environmental (AES) measure that has been shown to correlate with higher bird numbers. This finding comes from newly published research on birds in Finland. […]
No other part of the economy is so deeply influenced by European Union rules as farming, which is subject to the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP. Agriculture covers 175 million hectares of Europe and shapes the landscape like no other activity. […]
Several organisation representing farmers and environmentalists came together in Brussels to protest against the Mercosur trade deal yesterday. Responding to a call from the Belgian farmers group FUGEA, farmers and activists gathered outside the European Commission to protest against the threat posed by Mercosur to farmer incomes, the environment, and the rights of indigenous peoples in South America. […]
How can the agricultural sector in Ireland be part of a Just Transition to address inequality in the sector and tackle climate change? Agriculture is not only a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, it is also the most unequal sector in the Irish economy in income terms. When it comes to climate change and agriculture, we need to change how we think about the challenge of reducing emissions. Farmers and their communities must play a central role in planning climate action to ensure it is good for farmers as well as the planet. […]
Recent publications have thrust the inequality of UK land ownership into the public eye. Lesser known is that landowners (and farmers) profit further from a series of, sometimes bizarre, tax breaks. Miles King summarises the findings of a report by People Need Nature into this tax system. […]
While the next CAP reform is still in discussion at the Council, and the European Parliament has not yet taken a final position, Samuel Féret explains the rationale of the new concept of CAP Strategic Plans (CSP) for a future CAP as proposed by the European Commission. This is intended as a pivotal piece of the future new delivery model, probably the biggest proposed change in how the CAP is set to operate in the future. The first in a five part article series on where next for CAP. […]
Brexit is coming at a time when there is probably more consumer awareness of animal welfare than ever before. There should be no question of British animal-welfare standards changing with the UK leaving the EU. […]
An important CAP report was suppressed until just after the European elections, which, nevertheless, saw some significant changes in the Parliament’s political groupings. Oliver Moore has more. […]
Ruminant livestock farmers have the unique potential to manage the British countryside to deliver a number of public goods, alongside profitably producing environmentally-sustainable premium-quality meat. The potential ‘prize’ is a carbon-neutral UK ruminant livestock sector, as part of a rural landscape that delivers a number of publicly-desired ecosystem services. […]
The Dutch agricultural miracle comes with a downside too, but there are agroecological approaches – even in this most urban of nations – that resonate with the call for a living countryside. […]
A fantastic new resource has been published – an Agriculture Atlas. This is a really useful introductory to agri-food and rural policy in the EU, and mostly revolves around how CAP is implemented, including in a number of member states. ARC2020 has an article on Pillar 2, written by Helene Schulze and Oliver Moore. Published by Heinrich Boll Stiftung, Birdlife International (Europe and Central Asia) and Friends of the Earth Europe. […]
There are cliches of what rural America is: white, conservative and climate change denying. As so often is the case, the truth is more complex. There are opportunities too in the difficulties climate change presents, for rural communities to engage with the topic – and with each other. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention