Agroecology Archives - Page 2 of 19 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

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. […]

Protest, Pesticides and the Parliament – European news round up

January 23, 2023 Ashley Parsons

Citizens voices are making noise in early 2023: Jan 21, in Berlin 10,000 turn up to march for a green, social agricultural future. And on Jan 19th, the EU Court of Justice announced the end of exceptions on the use of bee-killing neonicotinoids. Will the momentum spill over into the January 24th hearing at the EU Parliament? The Save Bees and Farmers citizens initiative will be presented and Members EU Commission Reps invited to exchange. […]

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2023 | Agroecology Movement Gathers for Hope and Action

January 22, 2023 Ursula Billington

Reflecting on the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which took place earlier this month, Ursula Billington traces common threads that emerged from the rich programme. […]

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? […]

A-ction, R-esilience, C-ritical Mass – Hannes Lorenzen’s Letter to 2023

January 17, 2023 Hannes Lorenzen

President of ARC2020 Hannes Lorenzen’s New Year’s letter to set the scene for the year. We spell ARC2023 like this: Action on CAP – Rural resilience – and a Critical mass for system change […]

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2023 | Sixteen Must-See Sessions

January 4, 2023 Ursula Billington

It looks set to be another stimulating start to the year for real foodies and regenerative farmers as the Oxford Real Farming Conference, “the largest gathering of the agroecological movement on the planet”, returns from 4 – 6 January 2023. […]

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. […]

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 Japan | Agroecology, Diversification and Digitalisation on Hashimoto Family Farm

November 1, 2022 Matteo Metta

While Japan continues to drive the high-tech smartification of agriculture, what is the role of digitalisation for a diversified, agroecological family farm in a rural part of Hyogo Prefecture? Matteo Metta writes this report from Hashimoto Farm in Ichijimachō […]

Cultivating The Future Together – ARC’s Rural Resilience Gathering in France

October 27, 2022 ARC

In Loire-Atlantique, in western France, ARC2020 and Nos Campagnes en Resilience hosted a rural gathering. The weekend created space for farmers, rural actors, regional and European organisations and policymakers to share, reflect and prepare action for the future of our countryside. […]

Main stories

Latin America | Agroecology and the Solidarity Economy

October 11, 2022 Les Levidow

An alternative to the dominant agri-food system approach, ‘EcoSol-agroecology’ denotes a convergence of solidarity economy and agroecology movements. In Latin America, agroecology has been linked to the solidarity economy since the 1990s. […]

Four Takeaways From our Rural Resilience Gathering in North West France

October 8, 2022 Oliver Moore

A recent rural resilience gathering in the Loire-Atlantique, France saw farmers, cooks, elected officials, analysts, rural activists, volunteers and more meet to work on the future of the socio-ecological transition. Organised by ARC’s team on the ground in France via the Nos Campagne en Resilience team, and other partners such as the region’s Cooks Alliance, many fruitful talks and experiences were had. So what unfolded? Oliver Moore has some personal observations on his time there. […]

UK | The Grassroots Groups Shifting Ground on Land Justice

July 22, 2022 Ursula Billington

The racialised history of British soil has consequences that are very much felt today. However where industrial scale farming is failing, the grassroots is doing what it does best, building fertile ground for a new food system that nurtures diversity. High-profile agroecology events such as this weekend’s Land Skills Fair are spotlighting land justice. This is thanks to the work of many projects that together are gradually shifting the ground for land justice. Ursula Billington reports. […]

Letter From The Farm | Learning from a Campesino Family in Cuba

July 8, 2022 Matteo Metta

In Cuba, food security is still a challenge after years of wars to fight against colonialism, imperialism and climate change. Yet, the island is far beyond the European Green Deal objectives, having largely achieved most of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity targets that the EU aspires to attain by 2030. One Cuban farm is going even further. Welcome to La Finca del Medio, a 13.42-hectare family farm located in central Cuba, which is championing food sovereignty in the agroecological way. Matteo Metta writes from the farm. […]

Letter From The Farm | Cresting the Peaks of Constant Change

June 10, 2022 Chiara Garini

We’re back at the foot of the Italian Alps, where Chiara Garini is growing like the shiitake mushrooms on her forest farm. Given our precarious, hyperconnected and crisis-stricken planet, Chiara is sticking with the realism of making and maintaining –food and employment, forest and qualify of life– over the idealism of saving the world. The farm is growing too, and the long-awaited renovation of an old building is helping the now-expanded team to diversify activities. […]