New farmer Chiara Garini, fresh from learning about gastronomy and agroecology at the academic level, is trying to put some of her ideas into practice on a farm in Italy. Here she introduces her background, her studies, and the land she’s working on. Already, she has faced challenges and had to make decisions. […]
Here we round up some recent perspectives on the Commission’s CAP proposal. This includes a summary of the 18 months of work that went into the document(s), concern over capping backsliding, a briefing on conditionality, which member states want to keep the cash as it was, and an Urgenci (CSA) and Birdlife perspective. […]
Interested in reducing the GHG emissions from producing our food? Better nutrition and health and lower healthcare costs? Reducing the pollution from our food production systems? Then read what Stuart Miekle has to say about how a soil focused farming benefits these and other aspects of society. […]
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. […]
There are lots of ways to find our news and analysis – facebook, twitter, even an RSS feed. But let us tell you about our newsletter and our NEW weekly briefing! […]
Jordan Treakle tells us about the 2nd UN FAO Agroecology Symposium, held in Rome April 3rd-5th. What vision for agroecology was presented? And how does this relate to policy matters, and realities on the ground? […]
In light of the Baysanto merger recently approved, Ian Fitzpatrick investigates the new frontier of agricultural biologicals. […]
The European Commission envisages a future CAP where funding is based on performance. How could such a delivery model ensure more ambitious environmental policy rather than business-as-usual? The IEEP provides some ideas.
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When we change how land is used, it doesn’t just impact on this one area. Italian trio Riccardo Scalenghe, Francesco Malucelli and Mario Catizzone examine soil matters in the Emilia-Romagna Plain, Italy, and help us understand what is truly lost when we loose soil without thinking about all the impacts. […]
In Part 2, Gabriel Ash examines whether Free/ Open Source Software (FOSS) can really counter the commodification of agricultural knowledge. […]
AgTech is being mainstreamed. Can Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) be a way to make it accessible to all? In this 2-part piece, Gabriel Ash explores agricultural knowledge and the digital commons. […]
On the day of an unsuccessful Agrifish Council meeting, the ECA publishes a damning report on CAP performance and the Commission’s Communication. […]
Evaggelos Vallianatos entered the Office of Pesticide Programs of the US Environmental Protection Agency in May 1979. He learned a lot. Here he shares with us some of that wisdom, while also introducing the Anna Feigenbaum book Tear Gas: From the Battlefields of World War I to the Streets of Today. […]
Sebastian Lakner & Guy Pe’er question the effectiveness of the current CAP’s performance, as well as the lack of ambition in the CAP communication. Current direct payments and upcoming supposed flexibilities are considered in detail. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention